Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., talks with reporters 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 party, and disillusioned by political gridlock in Congress.
Buck’s announcement came just hours after another veteran House 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 separate announcements on the same day followed a protracted battle for House speaker that has left Republicans bitterly divided, and which paralyzed the chamber 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 leaders in my district.” Granger represents a solidly Republican district near Fort Worth.
Buck, 64, said he was leaving Congress in large part because he was frustrated with the direction he saw the Republican Party moving in.
“Too many Republican leaders are lying to America,” he said in a video announcing his retirement.
If Republicans are “going to solve difficult problems, we have to deal with some very unpleasant lies and make sure that we project to the public what the truth is,” Buck told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell.
Buck predicted that more centrist Republicans would announce their retirements “in the near future.”
Last month, Buck and Granger both voted against hard-line conservative Rep. Jim Jordan for House speaker. House Speaker Mike Johnson was later elected unanimously.
Johnson’s voting record is very conservative, and like Jordan, he voted against certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Buck voted to certify the 2020 election results. Granger missed the vote after testing positive for Covid-19.