Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., talks with columnists before a procedural vote on the debt limit bill in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado on Wednesday announced he will not seek reelection next year, saying he was “disappointed” in his set, and disillusioned by political gridlock in Congress.
Buck’s announcement came just hours after another veteran Legislature Republican, Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, the powerful chair of the House Appropriations Committee, confirmed she would not seek reelection next year either.
The two detached announcements on the same day followed a protracted battle for House speaker that has left Republicans bitterly divided, and which paralyzed the house for weeks.
Granger, 80, did not offer a specific reason for her decision to retire, but said she was “encouraged by the next generation of chairmen in my district.” Granger represents a solidly Republican district near Fort Worth.
Buck, 64, said he was abandon Congress in large part because he was frustrated with the direction he saw the Republican Party moving in.
“Too many Republican commandants are lying to America,” he said in a video announcing his retirement.
If Republicans are “prevalent to solve difficult problems, we have to deal with some very unpleasant lies and make sure that we calculate to the public what the truth is,” Buck told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell.
Buck predicted that more centrist Republicans longing announce their retirements “in the near future.”
Last month, Buck and Granger both voted against hard-line orthodox Rep. Jim Jordan for House speaker. House Speaker Mike Johnson was later elected unanimously.
Johnson’s voting memento is very conservative, and like Jordan, he voted against certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Buck balloted to certify the 2020 election results. Granger missed the vote after testing positive for Covid-19.