Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) said shortly after he arrived in the Senate after being elected in 2010, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) let him know the Senate was not going to accomplish anything until after the 2012 presidential election.

During a speech to the Ripon Society last Thursday, Moran said Reid approached him when he first got to the Senate; Moran told Reid he was "grateful" for the opportunity to serve but was frustrated the Senate seemed not to be "doing anything."

"Sen. Reid’s response was, ‘Jerry, you need to understand that we’re not going to do anything until after the election,'" Moran said. 

Reid--and the Democrats who control the Senate--lived up to his promise, as the Senate did not even pass a budget during this period. 

Moran said that experience compelled him to take on his current job as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

"When you get elected to public office, and there are very few elections that are easy and most of us are motivated by the desire to do something, and to be told at that stage—almost two years before the next election— that nothing was going to be done, was an eye-opening experience to me and was very troublesome," Moran said.