Buck: Congress is a "dysfunctional place" and he's "happy to move on"
Published Date: 3/24/2024
Source: axios.com

Former Rep. Ken Buck on Sunday called Congress a "dysfunctional place" and has no regrets about leaving early.

Why it matters: Buck is among the flurry of GOP politicians in Congress heading for the exit and shrinking the House Republicans' majority.


  • "No rearview mirror," Buck said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday. "Happy to move on."

What he's saying: Buck agreed with "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl's statement that he "must have been pretty intensely frustrated" with things on Capitol Hill to vacate his office early.

  • "Since this Congress started, there have been efforts to impeach the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the president, the attorney general, the FBI director and, in fact, they did impeach the secretary of Homeland Security," Buck said.
  • "We have a very tragic circumstance in Ukraine. We have a spiraling debt, all kinds of out-of-control problems, and we focus on messaging bills that get us nowhere," he said.

The Colorado Republican said the GOP majority "is evaporating."

  • But, Buck added, "very few votes ... are decided by one or two members" and the exit of some Republicans shouldn't have a massive impact.
  • "Other than the [Alejandro] Mayorkas impeachment, I can't think of a vote that went one way or the other because of one member. They typically have to be bipartisan at this point," he said.

Zoom in: Buck, who left office on March 22, stunned GOP leadership by cutting his previously announced plans to retire short by several months.

Zoom out: Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) also recently announced he will resign in April, leaving House Republicans a one-vote margin.

Go deeper: House GOP panics as another Republican sprints for the exits