House Speaker Mike Johnson had no idea Representative Ken Buck is quitting, as the GOP is in complete shambles.
Representative Ken Buck took to social media to announce his near-immediate leave from Congress, resigning so fast that even his party leaders were caught off guard by the decision.
“Today, I am announcing that I will depart Congress at the end of next week,” Buck said in a statement on Tuesday. “I look forward to staying involved in our political process, as well as spending more time in Colorado with my family.”
The less-than-two-weeks notice took practically everybody by surprise, including (or maybe especially) House Speaker Mike Johnson.
“I was surprised by Ken’s announcement,” Johnson told a crush of reporters inside the Capitol building. “I look forward to talking to him about that.”
“I didn’t know,” he added.
Maybe he’s trying to give some sort of advantage to a MAGA successor (e.g. by giving him a better shot in a low-turnout special election so that he’d have an “(incumbent)” next to his name during the imminent real one)?
Edit: or maybe it’s less about giving an advantage to a particular successor, and more about just screwing over Boebert, who is running for his seat because she knows she’s unelectable in hers.
I think it’s very likely the GOP is trying to oust bobo. Thought that from the moment Buck announced his departure and she announced a district change. Seems they encouraged her to change, knowing she couldn’t win.
Though now I wonder if they want to keep her and think that a low turnout special election would be a safer bet for her.