WASHINGTON -- National Republican Senatorial Committee chair John Ensign (R-Las Vegas) apparently believes his best strategy for goading money out of his Senate colleagues is by taking them to the woodshed – publicly.

In a scalding Friday morning statement, Ensign said the NRSC’s budget for airing of independent expenditure-paid advertisements for the fall’s elections would have to be reduced because of the committee’s lack of funding from Republican Members.

"I recently challenged my colleagues to step up to the plate and help me provide the resources our candidates need to compete in races across the country -- to match the DSCC expenditures in targeted races,” Ensign said. “It has become clear that my call has gone largely unanswered. I have no control over the timing or content of IE ads, but I have had no choice but to decrease the total budget of our IE Unit. It is still my hope that my Republican colleagues will engage in this election and help match what the Democrats are doing. If they do, I will adjust our budget accordingly."

As Ensign noted, it’s not the first time the Las Vegan, in his first stint as chair of the GOP Senate campaign arm, has publicly chastised his colleagues. In July, Ensign said in a statement that he planned to match the $44.8 million independent expenditure budget the DSCC had set. He was setting the budget, he said, on the “faith that my Republican colleagues will step up to the challenge and transfer the funds necessary to remain competitive with the Democrats.  I have informed my colleagues that it is now up to them.”

Through the end of July, the DSCC had significantly out-fundraised its GOP counterpart with $43 million on hand to the NRSC’s $25 million. For weeks, the DSCC has been on the air in races for Republican-held Senate seats such as Oregon, New Hampshire, Colorado, Minnesota, and Mississippi.

Democrats, clearly hiding their pleasure, brushed off Ensign’s missive and said that with conservative third party groups like Club for Growth, Freedom’s Watch, and American Future Fund going to bat in races across the country, GOP Senate candidates would be well funded heading into the fall.

“Watching the NRSC is always interesting, but with new Republican front groups attacking Democratic candidates every day there seems to be plenty of Republican money,” said Matt Miller, a spokesman for the DSCC. “All we can do is work to meet our goals and we work to do that every day.”

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