It's not the version found in the holiday classic Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer.

Lame-duck U.S. House members—those retiring or have been voted out of office—are cast out of their plush offices to make room for incoming freshmen. Instead, they finish their terms in room B339 of the Rayburn House Office Building, the "Departing Member Service Center." As Fox tells it:

Rep. Chris Cannon is in cubby No. 1 -- perhaps assigned No. 1 because he lost his primary in late June to Rep.-elect Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a full four months before other members of Congress were defeated in November.

Seniority is everything on Capitol Hill. Even in defeat.

"I haven't been over there," Cannon said, referring to the Island of Misfit Toys.

Instead, Cannon wanders the halls with a briefcase.

"This is how you can tell if a member lost," Cannon told me, holding up a briefcase as he walked into the Speaker's Lobby. "We all carry briefcases. Without an office, I'm now a member of the 'Briefcase Caucus.'"

Who knew that Samsonite was the congressional equivalent of the Scarlet Letter?