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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said on Tuesday that he was not aware of Republican Colorado Representative Ken Buck's plan to resign from Congress next week and plans to chat with him soon.
Context
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has served as speaker since October, having been elected to the role after numerous fraught attempts by the House GOP to replace Representative Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted by a motion to vacate. He currently presides over a historically narrow Republican margin, 219-213, that has steadily shrunk since the party took the chamber by much fewer seats than anticipated in the 2022 midterms.
Most recently, Democrat Tom Suozzi won the New York seat left vacant after Republican George Santos was expelled.
Buck, a former Department of Justice prosecutor, has represented Colorado's 4th District since 2015. Before Tuesday, he had announced his intention to retire from Congress and the end of his current term.
What We Know
On Tuesday, Buck revised his retirement plans, stating that he will depart his office at the end of next week. This leaves the House breakdown at 218-213 until a special election can be held.
According to a post on X from Politico reporter Olivia Beavers, Johnson was caught by surprise, claiming not to have heard from Buck about the decision ahead of time. He also said that he plans to talk with the outgoing congressman soon.
"I didn't know," Johnson said, according to Beavers.
In response, Buck's office told Beavers that the congressman had called Johnson and left a voicemail about his decision half an hour before announcing it, to try and give him a heads-up.
A source close to the congressman's office confirmed to Newsweek the above-mentioned details about the voicemail sent to Johnson. They also said that Buck spoke about his decision with Republican House Whip Tom Emmer prior to announcing it.
Views
Speaking on his decision to retire earlier than first planned, Buck cited the chaotic atmosphere at the U.S. Capitol over the past few months.
"It is the worst year of the nine years and three months that I've been in Congress and having talked to former members, it's the worst year in 40, 50 years to be in Congress," Buck told CNN. "But I'm leaving because I think there's a job to do out there. This place has just devolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people."
NBC News reporter Ryan J. Reilly resurfaced a clip of Buck appearing on MSNBC in November, in which he called on his colleagues to repudiate false narratives about the 2020 election being stolen and the true nature of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
"Jan. 6 seems to have been a real breaking point for Ken Buck, as he watched so many of his colleagues pretend to believe crazy conspiracy theories that many of them don't actually buy," Reilly wrote about the clip.
What Comes Next
Numerous candidates are vying for the Republican nomination in Buck's district, which is considered conservative enough that the GOP nominee is all but guaranteed to win the seat overall.
Notably, Representative Lauren Boebert, who has represented the 3rd District in Colorado since 2021, has sought the 2024 nomination in the 4th District instead, after concerns grew about her reelection prospects.
Update 3/12/24, 2:57 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 3/12/24, 3:12 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 3/12/24, 4:50 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information about Buck's voicemail.
About the writer
Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more