Brewing in House

‘Perfect storm’ brewing in House, Colorado Republican says

“Kevin McCarthy, the speaker, has made promises on each of those issues to different groups. And now it is all coming due at the same time,” Rep. Ken Buck said.

By KELLY GARRITY

There’s a “perfect storm” brewing in the House in the coming weeks, and it could pose a threat to Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s speakership, Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) said Sunday.

“On the one hand, we’ve got to pass a continuing resolution,” Buck said during an interview on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.” “We also have the impeachment issue. And we also have members of the House, led by my good friend, Chip Roy, who are concerned about policy issues. They want riders in the appropriations bills, amendments in the appropriations bills that guarantee some type of security on our Southern border.

“So you take those things put together, and Kevin McCarthy, the speaker, has made promises on each of those issues to different groups. And now it is all coming due at the same time,” Buck said.

McCarthy became House Speaker after eking out a victory on the 15th round of votes among House Republicans. One of the concessions the California Republican made to win the position — agreeing to allow a single member of his party to start a process ousting the speaker, known as a “motion to vacate” — has left him at the mercy of some of the more fringe members of his conference as they look to the House leadership to accomplish their goals.

Buck said Sunday the GOP’s focus should be on the issues like border security, crime and inflation — not, at least at this point, on impeaching Democratic President Joe Biden.

“If we start going down these paths that really bear no fruit — we are not going to get an impeachment through the Senate,” Buck said.

“The reality is that the impeachment process is one that is going on right now. The Judiciary Committee, the Oversight Committee, the Ways and Means Committee are all investigating. They’re developing really good information about Hunter Biden,” Buck added, noting that “there is not a strong connection at this point between the evidence on Hunter Biden and any evidence connecting the president.”