This year’s House GOP freshman class, with 85 members, is one of the largest in decades. Even more remarkable is the fact that more than a third of them have never held elected office. They are military officers, small businessmen, pilots, FBI agents, auctioneers, nurses, pottery makers, pizzeria owners, an NFL offensive tackle, and even a rodeo announcer/bomb technician (Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas).

The Republican leadership under House Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) knew it would have its hands full once this crew of status quo–busting “citizen legislators” marched into town. For one thing, they would be arriving under extraordinary fiscal …