You know exactly what I meant.

Wait until later in the day/week, for the knives to come out.

Yeah, he's only a minor republican now.

Since his election to the Senate in 1996, Hagel has served as deputy whip for the Republican Caucus. He has been chair of both the Senate Global Climate Change Observer Group and the Senate Oversight Task Force. He serves as co-chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He also serves on the NATO Observer Group. Senator Hagel is a member of four Senate committees: Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Rules and Administration.