Senator Ted Stevens is now behind by over 1,000 votes in his quest for re-election.  The remaining votes will be counted by Wednesday and it appears that Stevens will lose.  That has not stopped South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint from pushing to have Stevens expelled from the Republican caucus:

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has been very public about his proposal to ask Senate Republicans, at a 9:30 meeting Tuesday morning, to formally vote on expelling Stevens from the Republican Conference, which would strip Stevens of all his committee seats, take away his seniority and essentially leave him without a party. Stevens would still be a senator, of course, but this conference expulsion would send a strong signal that expulsion from the Senate itself is a likely next step.

But the Alaska recount has thrown DeMint's plans into jeopardy, because Republicans might not want to be on record expelling someone who just might lose the election anyway.

"Sen. DeMint can raise it, but members might not be in any mood, especially since the election won’t be settled by then [Tuesday]," said one Senate Republican leadership aide. "I just don’t know what will happen." 

A DeMint aide insists that nothing has changed.

"The vote is schedule to go forward tomorrow," the aide said.