“Without defining himself as some kind of firebrand, he takes a common-sense approach and presents it in a very even-handed way that doesn’t sound political, and that’s exactly what we need right now,” said Republican Jim DeMint of South Carolina, a leading Senate conservative.

He teamed up with Democrat Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, the Senate’s most senior member, and won adoption of a provision in the fiscal 2010 budget blueprint (S Con Res 13) that would slow climate-change legislation.

Johanns argued that the climate legislation would dramatically increase energy costs for producers and consumers. The amendment was a legislative coup and delivered a blow to Democrats eager to deliver on a top legislative priority. It also served as an early test for Obama’s climate-change agenda.

Risch, who succeeded scandal-plagued Republican Larry E. Craig (1991-2009), was a political force in Idaho for almost four decades. This is the first time in his career that he finds himself in the minority.

He spent 19 of his 22 years in the Idaho Senate as a member of the leadership. His hard-nosed, combative legislative style eventually gave way to a more mellow approach.

Pointing to last year’s $700 billion financial industry bailout (PL 110-343), the $787 billion stimulus package (PL 111-5) early this year, and the pending supplemental spending bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (HR 2346), Risch said he is still adjusting to the reactive nature of Congress.

“The agenda around here seems to be much more driven by circumstances beyond everyone’s control, be it the president, the Congress or anyone else.” Risch said. “At the state level we generally are able to say, ‘Look, this is our vision for where we want to go, what we want to do.’”

When Bush tapped Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne to be Interior secretary in 2006, Risch, then the lieutenant governor, moved up to complete the remaining seven months of Kempthorne’s term.

With Republican C.L. “Butch” Otter mounting an aggressive campaign to succeed Kempthorne, Risch knew his gubernatorial tenure would be brief.

He sat down with his closest political adviser—his wife Vicki—and spelled out his legislative goals. As governor he overhauled the state’s tax structure and forged a deal on a long-stalled plan to protect millions of Idaho’s roadless wilderness acres.

Risch’s close friend and fellow Idaho Republican Sen. Michael D. Crapo has helped ease Risch’s transition. The two have known each other since their days as state lawmakers and talk several times a day.

“We coordinate very carefully together,” said Crapo, who was co-chairman of Risch’s Senate campaign. “He knows how to get things done.”

But Risch, like Johanns and their 11 freshman Democratic counterparts, is still learning to cope with the unpredictably of the Senate schedule.

“I’m used to looking at what I have to do and intending to see that every one of those things gets done,” he said. “You can’t do that in this job. It’s just impossible.”

For Johanns there’s an upside: less globe trotting.

“I was going to Geneva like I would drive to Grand Island, Neb.,” Johanns said of the travel he logged negotiating trade agreements as Agriculture secretary. “That was a lot of balls in the air every day, and then a crisis a day.”