Influence Alley

The Senate has had amendments, debates and votes on the floor over the past few months. And that kind of workflow is "almost like an out-of-body experience" for some members, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said.

"[The Senate] is working it's way back to the Senate that most of us came to where what you did was you had votes, and at the end of a debate, a bill would pass, something would go forward," McConnell said.

McConnell got all braggadocious about the Senate's productivity outside of Tuesday's Senate lunches, citing last week's bipartisan passage of the farm bill as an example.

(Photo: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)