You’ve heard the speculation, and now it has come true: After presiding over a huge loss of his party’s seats to the Democrats this month — a loss that could still give that party effective control of the Senate — our own U.S. Sen. John Ensign was promoted in the Republican caucus.

What, is it the hair?

Ensign will serve in the new Congress as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, which is the No. 4 position in Republican leadership. That makes Ensign — by his own calculation — the highest-ranking Republican in federal service in history. Let’s check in on the jubilation, from a statement released by the senator’s office:

“It’s an honor and a privilege to have been selected by my colleagues for this position,” said Ensign. “I’m grateful to have the opportunity to take such a leading role in the future of the Republican Party as we reunite as the party of fiscal responsibility, limited government and opportunity for everyone.”

Established in 1946, the Policy Committee unifies and coordinates legislative efforts across the Republican Conference.  In a larger capacity compared to the last two years when he was Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Senator Ensign will help establish floor strategy and direction.

“For Nevada, this position will lend an even stronger voice in the Senate,” said Ensign. “As a more senior member of leadership, I’ll have an influential voice at the negotiating table and be able to ensure that the interests of Nevadans are heard at the earliest stages of the legislative process.”

Yes, an influential voice at the table. Remember that time in 2000 when Ensign argued that a good reason to elect him was that he could sway Republican votes against Yucca? Yeah and then he failed to sway even a single Republican vote? That was funny. Yet, he got re-elected in 2006, once again having failed to achieve his stated goals.

What, is it the hair?

Anyway, we couldn’t help but note that Ensign’s new job, to “help establish floor strategy and direction,” is remarkably similar to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid’s gig on the Democratic side. (Reid, you’ll recall, is THE highest-ranking Nevadan of either party in federal service, ever.) Gee, we hope their friendship isn’t strained by the fact that Ensign stands against everything that Reid is for; that could be awkward.

One good thing, however: Unlike his sorry, failure-plagued tenure as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (where history repeated itself, inasmuch as Ensign was unable to recruit quality candidates or to persuade his Republican colleagues to donate money so that Republicans could get elected to the Senate), he’ll probably have more time for golf in his new job.

And who knows? If his fuckup-promotion cycle continues, and Ensign does a really bad job in his new post, he could be Senate minority leader in a few years! The sky’s the limit!