Republicans who have only served the past eight years in the House majority, are about to learn they did not know how good they had it until it is gone later this week, as The New York Times reported.
"You control nothing," Rep. Peter T. King, R-N.Y., told the Times. "As far as calling the shots, we have nothing like the Senate where one guy can filibuster. You have no recourse."
King has been in the House for this his fourth transition of power, having been a part of the GOP takeover in 1995, the Democratic turn in 2007, the return to Republicans in 2011 before this move back to Democrats in 2019."
A veteran like King can provide the cautionary tales that now become a reality for those like Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who has only served during the GOP majority of the past eight years.
"They say you will have a lot more time on your hands and will vote 'no' a lot more often," Rep. Kinzinger told the Times.
"We have come to grips with the shock of the election, but the shock of governing will still be a wake-up call for some people."
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., also a veteran who has lived both ways in the House joked recommendations to "smoke a lot; drink a lot," according to the report.
"You are going to get some real disappointment," Rep. Cole told the Times. "They are going to find out how good they had it in the majority, particularly when we had a Republican Senate, as frustrating as that could be."
There can be a silver-lining to the losses, according to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.
"Being in the minority is a chance to think big picture and be visionary and make sure we are drawing the contrast between us and the Democrats," she told the Times. "As Republicans, we really need to focus on what it is going to take to win back the voters we lost in 2018.
"We lost too many women, Republican women, in the suburbs and we lost men and women. We must win hearts and minds, and we can do it."
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