Colorado Rep. Ken Buck says he will not serve out rest of term, narrowing House Republican majority

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) said Tuesday that he will not serve out the rest of his term and will instead vacate his seat in Congress at the end of next week, further narrowing an already razor-thin House Republican majority.

“I look forward to staying involved in our political process, as well as spending more time in Colorado and with my family,” Buck said in a brief statement.

Buck had said in November that he would not seek reelection to another term, but his announcement Tuesday that he would depart Congress so soon was a surprise.

Once Buck departs, Republicans will outnumber Democrats 218 to 213 in the House. That means Republicans can afford to lose only two votes to pass legislation along party lines when everyone is attending and voting.

Buck has clashed with the majority of the Republican conference in recent months, notably for opposing his party’s launch of an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. In a September op-ed for The Washington Post, Buck criticized the inquiry as one that relied “on an imagined history.”

Buck was also one of eight Republican lawmakers who voted with Democrats to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the speakership.

In announcing his retirement from Congress last year, Buck expressed disappointment that many fellow Republicans continue to push the “big lie” that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

“Our nation is on a collision course with reality, and a steadfast commitment to truth, even uncomfortable truths, is the only way forward,” Buck said then. “Too many Republican leaders are lying to America.”

Buck also cited Republicans’ downplaying the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, in which a pro-Trump mob sought to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral win, as well as the GOP’s claims that the ensuing prosecutions amounted to a weaponization of the justice system.

“These insidious narratives breed widespread cynicism and erode Americans’ confidence in the rule of law,” Buck said. “It is impossible for the Republican Party to confront our problems and offer a course correction for the future while being obsessively fixated on retribution and vengeance for contrived injustices of the past.”