Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) is quitting Congress this week, but he shouldn’t expect a friendly sendoff from his fellow Republicans.
The House Freedom Caucus voted Tuesday night to kick Buck out, as first reported by The Hill. He has been a member of the conservative caucus for years but reportedly has not attended meetings for several months.
Buck announced the week prior that he would resign from Congress Friday, further reducing House Republicans’ slim majority and leaving his district without representation for three months until a special election can conclude.
The Coloradan has been without many allies in Congress since breaking from his party on significant priorities, including refusing to back Donald Trump or the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. He also voted against Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the party’s nominee for Speaker at the time, on the House floor. And he told CNN last year he would not run for reelection because Republicans “keep lying” about the results of the 2020 election and what happened on January 6, 2021.
Buck publicly admitted last year he would consider leaving Congress early to take a lucrative position as a talking head for a left-leaning establishment media outlet like CNN.
The Congressman has given the nebulous reason for leaving early of wanting to “get in the mix of this election cycle,” telling CNN’s Dana Bash last week:
“Well, everywhere I go in Colorado, Dana, I hear that people are not happy with Trump and are not happy with Biden. I think we need to change our electoral laws here and I have a passion for that. I’m going to leave and I’m going to fight find the right organization to join. I’m going to start work on that issue. We have to have better candidates up and down the ballot, not just president, but Senate, House, local offices. We’ve got to find better ways to elect candidates and bring America together.”
A spokesman for the House Freedom Caucus told Breitbart News, “HFC does not comment on membership or internal processes.”
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.