'Bickering and nonsense': Ken Buck trashes GOP after saying he's quitting Congress in days
Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) suggested he is quitting Congress this week because Republicans have a "personal" grudge against him and the House of Representatives is "dysfunctional."
After announcing his near-immediate retirement, Buck spoke to CNN's Dana Bash about the decision.
"I'm resigning my seat and creating a vacancy in my district," Buck explained. "Everywhere I go in Colorado, Dana, I hear that people are not happy with Trump, and they're not happy with Biden. And I think we need to change our electoral laws here. And I have a passion for that."
Buck said he planned to find an organization to help him do that.
"We've got to find better ways to elect candidates and bring America together," he insisted.
Bash wondered if the tension between Republicans was part of why Buck was leaving Congress before he had planned.
"I think this place is dysfunctional," Buck said, referencing a hearing with special counsel Robert Hur which was on a break as he spoke. "For example, I am the number third-ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. I haven't even asked my questions yet."
ALSO READ: How Trump ends Social Security
"Forty, fifty people have gone before me," he complained. "It could be personal, but a lot of this is personal."
"And that's the problem. Instead of having decorum, instead of operating in a professional manner, this place has just devolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people."
Buck said this was the worst year of his nine in Congress.
"And having talked to former members, it's the worst year in 40, 50 years to be in Congress," he observed. "But I'm leaving because I think there's a job to do out there that I want to go do."