Last fall, he shut down an attempt by fellow Republicans to de-fund his state's infamous "bridge to nowhere"--a proposed piece of pork that would connect two barely populated towns--by threatening to resign.
He has since gone on to mount an impressive list of works, including bringing the sound of the sea from the Normandy beaches to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and the inner vibrations of London's Millennium Bridge to London's Tate Modern.