>> tea party, taking another step toward flexing its muscles on capitol hill today. >> the first meeting of the senate tea party caucus. >> seven tea party senators promise to band together to slash the budget, deconstruct the federal government, eliminate whole departments. but now that they're in washington? >> featuring some big names and a few surprising no-shows. >> rsvp-ing no were ron johnson out of wisconsin, kelly ayotte from new hampshire, pat toomey from pennsylvania. >> senators who certainly were helped by tea party voters. marco rubio, freshman republican senator from florida. >> the tea party helped rubio beat moderate republican charlie crist and democrat kendrick meeks. but now that he's a senator? >> the tea party all of a sudden becomes some sort of movement run by politician ppz. >> jim demint, rand paul, mike lee. >> they had a news conference yesterday. >> we're not trying to form just