With her historic bid to become president on life support, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is facing a return to her day job as the junior senator from New York who wields a relatively limited amount of power.

If she bows out of the race against Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Clinton would come back from the campaign trial as a rank-and-file and junior senator serving on four committees, including the Armed Services Committee and as chairwoman of a subcommittee overseeing toxic waste issues.

“We already have a majority leader,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), an Obama supporter, referring to Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

The remaining leadership spots are filled, and in interviews, none said they were planning on stepping down next Congress. There also remains the possibility that Clinton might position herself for a run at the New York governor’s mansion, be picked as a running mate for Obama or even win a specially crafted position among Senate leadership.

At 60, Clinton is slightly younger than the average age of a senator, which is 63, meaning she probably could advance to a leadership spot if she continued her career in the Senate. But that likely will not happen next Congress, people familiar with the Senate say.

Clinton’s office dismisses the talk of her next career move, saying her intent is still on occupying the Oval Office beginning next January.

“Sen. Clinton looks forward to working with [an] expanded Democratic majority under Leader Reid, and having him and Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi [D-Calif.] by her side when she signs legislation to expand children’s healthcare, issues the order as commander in chief to end the war, takes the necessary steps to rebuild our economy and much more,” spokesman Philippe Reines said Tuesday.

But her double-digit loss in North Carolina and narrower-than-expected win in Indiana on Tuesday is intensifying pressure for her to quit the race since she lacks a clear path to the nomination.

If she doesn’t decide to drop out, enough superdelegates – party leaders and elected officials – might side with Obama by the beginning of June to effectively force her out of the race, several senior Democrats said Tuesday.
That means she might be forced to evaluate her next step soon.

Reid has given no signs of relinquishing his leadership position next Congress, even though running the Senate might make his 2010 reelection bid even tougher.

When asked Tuesday if he thought Clinton would serve as majority leader next Congress, Reid said curtly: “Ask her.”

If Clinton were to challenge Reid, the move would be unusual. Of the approximately 50 senators who have run for president in modern times, only one has returned to run for majority leader, according to the Senate historians office.