After announcing her write in bid for the Alaska Senate, the Senate Republican caucus threatened to yank Lisa Murkowski’s position as rinking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, but they have now backed away from that:

In a surprise move, Senate Republicans did not vote to drop one of their own, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Senator Murkowski’s decision to mount a write-in campaign after losing her primary to “tea party” backed attorney Joe Miller angered many of her Senate colleagues. Even a failed bid risks splitting the Republican vote in Alaska, giving Democrats an unexpected pickup and curbing GOP prospects for taking back the Senate.

On Wednesday, the caucus did replace Murkowski with Sen. John Barrasso (R) of Wyoming as vice chair of the Republican Conference – the policy wing of Senate Republicans – but it declined to go further.

So they went with a largely symbolic slap on the wrist, because losing her ranking status would have made it far more difficult for her to campaign in Alaska on the political currency of that realm, pork barrel spending.

I don’t know what went on behind closed doors, 24 hours ago her being stripped of her position was thought to be a done deal.