Ken Buck announces he is leaving Congress early, saying House has become 'dysfunctional'

WASHINGTON – Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., is leaving Congress early after announcing his retirement last year, further narrowing Republicans’ razor-thin majority in the House that could complicate the GOP’s ability to pass legislation.

“Today, I am announcing I will depart Congress at the end of next week,” Buck said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “I look forward to staying involved in our political process, as well as spending more time in Colorado and with my family.”

Buck said the House has become “dysfunctional” in an interview on CNN following his announcement and that Congress has “just devolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people.”

“It is the worst year of the nine years and three months that I’ve been in Congress and having talked to former members, it is the worst year in 40-50 years to be in Congress,” he added.

Buck has often broke from the House GOP conference on multiple issues. He was one of eight GOP lawmakers who voted to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and has criticized his party's embrace of former President Donald Trump and his false claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

"I have witnessed this for a while and I think we are seeing a breakdown of civility and a breakdown of really, priorities in terms of what the American people deserve," Buck told reporters on Tuesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters he "was surprised by Ken's announcement and I'm looking forward to talking with him about that," and added he "did not know" ahead of time of his resignation.

A spokesperson for Buck said the Colorado Republican called Johnson roughly 30 minutes prior to his announcement and left a voicemail for the speaker.

Buck said if he gave GOP leadership advance notice, his resignation would have been leaked and he "wanted to do it on my own terms."

The House has been mired in chaos and dysfunction since House Republicans took control last year mainly due to their razor-thin majority. The lower chamber was frozen for three weeks after McCarthy's ouster and floor action has often been paused due to internal party rebellions.

Assuming there is full attendance in the House – which is rare – Buck’s exit won’t change the math for House Republicans. As the party makeup currently stands, at 219 Republicans and 213 Democrats, House Republicans can only afford to lose two votes on party-line votes. With Buck leaving, that will trim the GOP majority to 218 seats, meaning two votes is still the cutoff for House Republicans.

But it’s not often the House sees full attendance for votes which means Buck’s departure will force House Republican leadership to be even more calculating when putting partisan legislation on the floor.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ken Buck to exit early from Congress, narrowing House GOP majority