No matter Occurred To Ken Buck’s Election Integrity Stand?

WASHINGTON ― Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) refused to assist Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for Home speaker due to Jordan’s personal refusal to acknowledge Joe Biden’s very apparent victory over Donald Trump within the 2020 presidential election.

However after Jordan dropped out, Buck gladly voted for Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), despite the fact that Johnson had not disowned his previous assist of the previous president’s election denialism ― and even performed a key function in mainstreaming it inside the GOP by organizing a authorized temporary in search of to throw out the ends in key states.

Based on Buck, Jordan is “different than Mike Johnson” despite the fact that on this explicit query, the variations appear refined. Principally, Buck argues Johnson’s authorized efforts have been extra righteous than Jordan’s political ones, even when many outdoors observers would say the previous set the stage for the latter.

There could also be some historical past between Buck and Jordan ― an unrelated beef, defined beneath ― however Buck denies there was something private about his opposition to the Ohio Republican.

Right here’s what occurred throughout this month’s speaker battle: Buck first confronted Jordan and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) concerning the 2020 election throughout a closed Republican assembly within the Capitol basement, the place Jordan refused to reply on to his query about whether or not Biden had received truthful and sq..

As a result of they gave oblique solutions, Buck mentioned he voted “present” through the closed-door GOP speaker election the subsequent day.

“If we don’t have the moral clarity to decide whether President Biden won or not, we don’t have the moral clarity to rule in this country, period,” Buck mentioned afterward.

Then, per week later, after Scalise withdrew his bid and Jordan turned the nominee, Buck met with Jordan privately and pressed him not simply on the election, however on his function within the occasions of Jan. 6, 2021, the day Trump backers stormed the Capitol. Buck mentioned Jordan was “more knowledgeable and involved in the whole challenging the election” that day and Jordan’s solutions hadn’t allayed his considerations. Buck was considered one of 20 Republicans who voted in opposition to Jordan in his first of three failed ballots on the Home ground.

After Jordan had prompt to his colleagues that the Home ought to empower Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) as non permanent speaker whereas Republicans continued preventing amongst themselves ― a proposal that seemingly would have required Democratic votes ― Buck labored in opposition to it.

Two sources mentioned Buck approached a bunch of progressives in a Capitol hallway and instructed them that Democrats ought to avoid the non permanent speaker proposal as a result of it could hold Jordan’s speaker bid alive, and that Jordan’s bid first wanted to go down on the Home ground. (A number of Democrats expressed curiosity in empowering McHenry, however as a bunch they by no means endorsed the concept earlier than Republicans killed it themselves.)

Buck recollects the dialog a bit in another way, saying it wasn’t about beating Jordan.

“What I said to a couple of progressives was, ‘If you initiate it, it’s gonna get a lot of pushback from our side,’” Buck mentioned. “So don’t don’t start initiating things with McHenry because we may very well support him for this temporary speaker position, but not if it looks like it’s coming from the Democrats.”

After Jordan withdrew his speaker bid, Republicans regrouped this week and settled on Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), who himself withdrew after simply 4 hours. Then Republicans realized they wanted a relative newcomer who hadn’t made too many enemies, in order that they settled on Johnson.

Buck supported Johnson despite the fact that the Louisiana Republican was the lead identify on a Supreme Courtroom temporary in search of to throw out the presidential election lead to December 2020, citing “an unprecedented number of serious allegations of fraud and irregularities,” despite the fact that no severe allegation of organized fraud ever materialized.

“That’s absolutely how you challenge an election, you go to court,” Buck mentioned, noting that he had added his personal identify to the temporary earlier than he spoke out in opposition to plans to vote in opposition to certifying the election.

Similar to Jordan, Johnson dodged reporters’ questions this month about whether or not the election was stolen ― together with at a press convention throughout which Johnson smiled whereas his colleagues yelled at a reporter to “shut up.” However Buck mentioned Jordan’s case was completely different due to his Jan. 6 involvement, which included a number of telephone calls with Trump that day.

Buck was first elected in 2014. He’s a conservative and a member of the far-right Home Freedom Caucus, although he’s a little bit uncommon amongst Republicans for his skepticism of monopoly energy and his assist for more durable antitrust enforcement.

Within the earlier Congress that began in 2020, with Democrats controlling the speaker’s gavel and chairing the committees, Buck was the highest Republican on the Home Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on Antitrust, Business and Administrative Legislation. He labored with Democrats on antitrust laws that really turned regulation, creating new charges on company mergers.

However when Republicans regained the Home this yr, Buck didn’t turn into chairman of the subcommittee the way in which rating members often do. As a substitute, with Jordan as chair of the broader Judiciary Committee, the antitrust subcommittee was renamed to deal with “Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust,” primarily re-prioritizing Republicans’ anti-government tendencies over market intervention. Jordan tapped Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) as chair, primarily blocking any likelihood at antitrust reforms reeling within the energy of Massive Tech or different industries.

Buck insisted the committee reshuffling had nothing to do along with his opposition to Jordan’s speaker bid. “It isn’t personal at all, it had nothing to do with that,” he mentioned.

In latest months Buck has additionally spoken out in opposition to high social gathering priorities championed by Jordan, together with the GOP’s ongoing, haphazard efforts to question Biden and its Jordan-led oversight of the Justice Division.

Jordan’s spokesman lately put out an announcement saying the 2 have been pals who would proceed working collectively. “I thought that was a great statement,” Buck mentioned.