Colorado Congressman Ken Buck is resigning from the United States House of Representatives.
The Republican's surprise announcement comes about four months after Buck announced his plans to retire.
“It has been an honor to serve the people of Colorado’s 4th District in Congress for the past 9 years. I want to thank them for their support and encouragement throughout the years,” Buck said in a brief statement posted to X on March 12. “Today, I am announcing that I will depart Congress at the end of next week. I look forward to staying involved in our political process as well as spending more time in Colorado and with my family.”
With Buck’s early departure, House Republicans will have a 218-213 majority.
Buck arrived in Congress in 2014. He currently serves on the House Judiciary Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee. The 65-year-old announced in November that he intended to retire at the end of his fifth term. At the time, Buck expressed his frustration with the Republican Party.
“Americans are rightfully concerned about our nation’s future and are looking to Republicans in Washington for a course correction,” he said in a video. “But their hope for Republicans to take decisive action may be in vain. Our nation is on a collision course with reality.”
“Too many Republican leaders are lying to America, claiming the 2020 election was stolen, describing January 6 as an ‘unguided tour’ of the capital, and asserting that the ensuing prosecutions are a weaponization of our justice system,” said the congressman. “These insidious narratives create widespread cynicism and erode Americans’ confidence in the rule of law.”
He suggested that Republicans are obsessed with “retribution and vengeance for contrived injustices of the past,” which he called a “significant departure from the enduring principles of conservatism.”
Buck was one of three Republicans to break with the colleague and vote against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayrokas in February. At the time, Buck said he did not believe Mayorkas’s actions or inactions since taking office constituted an impeachable offense.
But the Republican has been critical of President Joe Biden. He introduced a resolution on Feb. 26 aiming to remove Biden under the 25th Amendment because of concerns about the president’s physical and mental health.
“The Hur report officially addressed what many Americans have long witnessed with their own eyes — that President Biden is no longer fit to successfully discharge the critical duties of his office,” Buck said in a statement, per KDVR. “Numerous instances were articulated in the report, and have played out in full public view, showing President Biden’s apparent cognitive decline and lack of mental stamina.”
It is not immediately clear what Buck’s professional plans are after he leaves the federal government.
Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert changed districts in order to run for Buck’s seat in the state’s 4th district. She took fifth place in a straw poll conducted in January.
House Republicans are expected to gain two seats in the House this May after special elections are held to fill vacancies left by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California and Congressman Bill Johnson of Ohio. Democrats are also projected to gain a seat in April after a replacement for Congressman Brian Higgins of New York is elected.
