Republicans return to D.C. after voters take the belt. It was a historic drubbing, though not the first or last. The GOP and the Democrats have both seen blowout losses and epic comebacks. That’s how our system works; hence, it’s time to resharpen the bayonets and get back into the trenches. It doesn’t mean we go full Japanese human wave tactics on Okinawa. It also doesn’t help that some leaders will fumble the ball, making this lame-duck push far from a sure thing.

The GOP still controls Congress for a few weeks, and as we’ve seen many times, execution and what’s on paper are two separate things, and no doubt John Thune won’t be able to pass whatever the House GOP wants to get etched in stone before the Democrats take over (via Politico):

Members of the House Freedom Caucus are out with a wish list of priorities they want GOP leaders to accomplish before the party loses its governing trifecta in January.

“In the two months remaining in the 119th Congress, we have an enormous amount of unfinished business to preserve and protect the Republic from an incoming majority party hell-bent on radically changing it,” the board for the conservative group wrote Monday in a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune

The goal, members said, was to “deny” Democrats “every legislative leverage point possible” ahead of their takeover of Congress next year.

They added, “Let’s hold the line and finish the work.”

The Freedom Caucus is calling on leaders to push through legislation to “codify” President Donald Trump’s border security policies and strengthen voter ID laws in federal elections. The group also wants a government funding package that holds federal spending at existing levels — or appropriations bills without additional policy provisions.

And members said they wanted Republicans to push ahead with a final party-line package that would focus on modernizing U.S. defense systems and providing “significant tax relief for families” — with $1 trillion in spending reductions to offset it.

“Some of us called for action after our first reconciliation package to continue to move to support the American people,” the group wrote. “Unfortunately, the agenda stalled, and now we will no longer have the majority in the next Congress. We respectfully request that we take action in the next 60 days to protect the citizens we represent.”

I’m not expecting much. In the Senate, you have Thune’s effete demeanor, plus Murkowski, Tillis, Cornyn, Curtis, and AWOL McConnell mucking up the works. This mad dash wouldn’t have been possible if Senate Republicans understood that the filibuster was going away no matter what and that maybe we should get rid of it, get our stuff passed first before Democrats tried to go full-Marx when they assumed power at some point. Instead, we got a whole lot of D.C-speak about institutions and deference to procedure. Once again, it cooked us. Once again, we have people who do not seem to get it: when your opponent shows you their hand, take it seriously. There is no firewall on the other side — Sinema and Manchin are gone. 

So, good luck executing this two-minute drill. It’ll end with an interception over the middle, much like Daniel Jones in Indianapolis.