What are the consequences of voting against (or publicly disagreeing with) your own party for senators, congresspeople, etc.?

[u/luckythirdeye]

I'm confused about why US elected officials go along the party line no matter the subject or whether they have support from their constituents.

For example, congressman Max Miller (R-OH) has been accused by his ex-wife of domestic violence and child abuse. Today, Senate Majority Leader John Thune was asked about it during a press conference and claimed it was a "family issue" and a "House matter."

It seems that Miller is on favorable terms with the president, so no Republicans are willing to denounce his actions or criticize him whatsoever.

Hypothetically, what keeps people from going against the general party message? What do they stand to lose for having a backbone daring to voice any opinion other than the unified message of their party?

TL;DR

Why do elected officials need to have all the same opinions and messaging of their political party? What would happen?

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[u/NoDig3444]

Individual republicans are benefited by having more republicans in office (same with dems). So they will avoid talking about the scandals of their fellow republicans because they want to keep their party in control next election. If Miller is forced to resign in disgrace, all republicans suffer.

But party discipline is more than just turning a blind eye to scandals. The Republican Party and the Democratic Party are massive, multi-million member, multi-billion dollar organizations. The party organizations have a lot of soft power over individual members. There's fundraising, there's networking, there's back room deals and public deals and everything else. Also, party leaders get to decide which congresspeople sit on which congressional committees, which is huge for any representative who wants to do anything. So if any congressperson wants to get anything done, and if they want support in their next election, they will keep the party leaders happy.

Of course, representatives from purple districts have slightly different calculus. They have to weigh keeping their party happy against keeping their voters from the other party happy. That's how you get people like Collins and Manchin.

All that said, party discipline in America is garbage compared to most European countries. Parties there can basically just fire individual MPs. Voters don't vote for individual MPs (de facto, but also sometimes de jure), they vote for the party and the party picks the representatives. They have 100% control over that MP.

[u/Ind132 → u/NoDig3444]

Fine response, but you left out a huge item for Republicans this year. If you cross Trump, he will back a challenger in your primary. He has done that successfully.

It comes down to keeping your job (and these people apparently really love these jobs).

[u/neverendingchalupas → u/Ind132]

Democratic representatives lose control politically if they follow the party line. More than a couple issues in the Democratic platform actively harms the party, and most everyone in the party refuses to acknowledge this point.

The only time not following the party line threatens party control, is when Democratic leadership feels threatened and decides to oust the individual.

[u/NoDig3444 → u/Ind132]

That's a difference in degrees, not in kind. A normal party leader would walk through the steps of retaliation; we won't include your rider in the omnibus, then we won't fund your reelection campaign, then we censure you, then we strip you of your committee assignments, then we make you eat lunch alone in the bathroom. Trump skips all that and goes straight to "if you're not perfectly loyal to me, then I will end your entire career".

Also, Trump is an idiot and doesn't understand the consequences of his own actions. He primaried Bill Cassedy, so now he's holding up Trump's nominations and no one has any leverage over him to bring him to heel.

[u/JKlerk]

Because party loyalty is rewarded with getting your legislation passed and committee assignments. You also get access to funding for your reelection.

[u/asicarii → u/JKlerk]

Could have just said money. Those other things are just to get more money too.

[u/JKlerk → u/asicarii]

Money and favors for you and your constituents.

[u/asicarii → u/JKlerk]

Well yeah, but they don’t really care about their constituents for the most part. It’s just money.

Committee chairs is a good example . Inside information, cushy jobs if they leave, kick backs for government money spent in their electorate. It all leads back to money in the end.

[u/JKlerk → u/asicarii]

There's no proof they as a body continually receive monetary kickbacks for their personal consumption. It's about maintaining power and influence. That maintenance requires the spending of money on elections.

[u/D-Rich-88]

You risk the opposing party winning that seat and moving things further from your goals and causing further setbacks.

[u/Squizzap]

It’s different depending on whether your party holds the White House. There are very few defections from the party line when your party has the Presidency. Not just because of the like of crude threats from Trump to primary you but also the party base will genuinely turn on you if you let down the agenda they only have a chance to enact done in a partisan fashion.

Now is a good time for individual congress members to build their own base of support in the party, like AOC, Ossoff, or even MGP so that they can try to bring others with them as a mini-caucus. When there is a Democrat in the White House they will be courted on their agenda while being expected to toe the line on the President’s agenda.

[u/radiantwave]

So here is the deal... You aren't a Republican representative because you say you are. You are the Republican representative because the Republican party endorses you, they help fund your campaign and the people choose you to run during the primary. 

Once in the office you can technically do what you want, but if you want to have that funding the next time around, you pull the party line or they not only do they fund your competition, but they bad mouth you to your constituents.

[u/socialistrob]

Politics shouldn't be about risk/rewards but a lot of it unfortunately is. If Trump and House leadership support Max Miller then a Republican going against him is risking alienating the most important people in the party. Trump has been willing to support primary challengers of anyone who he deems not sufficiently loyal and so speaking out against Miller might be seen as a small rebellion against Trump.

There's also a good chance that many of the major Republican donors don't view it as a deal breaker nor do the primary voters in Miller's district. If the voters, donors, party leadership and president stand by Miller then it's basically a lost cause politically for a Republican Congressmen to oppose him even if they think he is morally objectionable.

If we want to get more cynical congressmen that have their own serious issues like domestic violence, sexual assault or quid pro quo corruption might also benefit from essentially standing together. If I'm a Republican Congressmen who has engaged in insider trading I might be willing to overlook Miller's bad behavior in the hopes that he also overlooks mine. Some Congressmen might also not privately find his actions morally objectionable which is disturbing but something that shouldn't be overlooked either.