If there's anything I'll give the Democrat Party credit for, it's that when its agenda is on the line, it falls in line. When the leadership says jump, its members ask how high. Democrats in Congress seem to care less about what's good for America and more about what their leadership tells them. For example, poll after poll showed Americans supported the SAVE America Act. Democrats ignored every one of them, and not a single one budged as the party obstructed the bill in the Senate.
So are Republicans finally figuring out how to get in line and do the business Americans elected them to do?
Well, there are encouraging signs.
House Republicans who will be in the minority in January are debating whether to punish members who vote against the party's agenda. Incoming Minority Leader Jim Jordan and other incoming GOP leaders are weighing the idea, according to a report from Politico.
And whatever they decide could set the rules for when Republicans retake the majority.
According to Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), several colleagues brought up the idea at the closed-door leadership election on Tuesday. He also pointed out he had never seen as many internal rebellions as in the past two years. That includes June, when GOP holdouts on the SAVE America Act forced leadership to cancel House votes.
Why is such a thing necessary? While Republicans have held the majority, members who broke ranks on rules votes and legislation paid no real price. Nobody lost a committee seat. Nobody faced consequences. And the results speak for themselves. Nine rules votes failed under Speaker Mike Johnson.
Under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, none did.
Of course, that's no accident. Democrat leaders punish defectors, which is why they rarely have any. In September, Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) voted with Republicans to pass a rule, and Democrat leaders went after them fast. "The decision by two of our colleagues to blindside the entire House Democratic Caucus..." they wrote in a joint statement. They called it "an action that necessitates a serious response, and we have asked the Committee on Caucus Rules..." to move quickly.
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Pelosi played the same game for years. When former Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) voted against her for speaker, Pelosi kept her off the House Judiciary Committee. Meanwhile, Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas) helped lead a November 2018 letter opposing Pelosi, switched sides, and landed a seat on the Armed Services Committee.
Loyalty gets rewarded. Disloyalty gets remembered.
Of course, not every Republican loves the idea. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) opposes disciplining holdouts.
"There's a difference between going against a rule and effectively preventing us from being able to legislate," Luna said Friday. Talking about the GOP leaders pushing the plan, she added, "They're effectively trying to control us."
Look, there's definitely a part of me that wants GOP members to vote their conscience and not be rubber stamps. I’d like for the GOP to be above the nonsense Democrats pull. But after they failed to pass the SAVE America Act, I'm tired of moral victories at the expense of getting things done.
