Sen. Byrd's aides say he won't step aside

WASHINGTON, April 9 (UPI) -- Aides to Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., say the 90-year-old lawmaker has no intention of stepping down as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Several senior Democrats privately expressed concern about Byrd's capacity as chair of the powerful committee, CNN reported.

"There are some who have concerns," an aide said. "Ahead of the appropriations season, some people have concerns which leaked out of a meeting."

Jesse Jacobs, Byrd's spokesman, dismissed talk of replacing Byrd as committee chairman.

Despite being slowed by a recent injury from a fall at his home, Byrd "remains focused on the job at hand. Any suggestions that he is not fulfilling his duties as a United States senator are baseless and untrue," Jacobs said in a statement.

When asked about the report that appeared first in Roll Call, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he supported Byrd keeping the job through the end of the current Congress in January 2009, CNN said.

Byrd, a nine-term Senator addressed, the age issue during a floor speech last June when he became the longest-serving senator in U.S. history,

"I will continue to work until this old body just gives out and drops -- but don't expect that to be any time soon," Byrd said then.