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Rep. Ken Buck

Representative for Colorado’s 4th District

pronounced ken // buk

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Buck is the representative for Colorado’s 4th congressional district (view map) and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 6, 2015. Buck is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.

Buck is among the Republican legislators who, by calling for entire states to be disenfranchised in the 2020 presidential election, fomented the terrorist attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 that aimed to prevent the determination of the next president of the United States. Shortly after the 2020 election, Buck joined a case before the Supreme Court calling for all the votes for president in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — states that were narrowly won by Democrats — to be discounted, claiming that some voters there followed procedures set by the wrong state officials. The case amplified lies and conspiracy theories that fueled the movement that led to the attack on the Capitol. The Supreme Court rejected the case. Following the rejection of several cases before the Supreme Court, one legislator called for violence.
Photo of Rep. Ken Buck [R-CO4]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2020 Report Card for Buck.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Buck is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Buck has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to May 4, 2021. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

The Club for Growth: 98% United States Chamber of Commerce: 67% The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws: B Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 12% League of Conservation Voters: 3% Human Rights Campaign: 0%

Committee Membership

Ken Buck sits on the following committees:

Enacted Legislation

Buck was the primary sponsor of 3 bills that were enacted:

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Does 3 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Buck sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Government Operations and Politics (26%) Taxation (17%) Crime and Law Enforcement (17%) Immigration (13%) Law (9%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (9%) International Affairs (9%)

Recent Bills

Some of Buck’s most recently sponsored bills include...

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

Buck voted Nay

Passed 327/85 on Dec 21, 2020.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, a major government funding bill, which also included economic stimulus provisions due ...

Buck voted Nay

Buck voted Nay

Passed 388/5 on Apr 23, 2020.
The federal government has enacted four main stimulus laws in response to the covid-19 pandemic. Here’s a brief rundown of what each of these legislative ...

Buck voted Nay

Passed 415/2 on Mar 4, 2020.
The federal government has enacted four main stimulus laws in response to the covid-19 pandemic. Here’s a brief rundown of what each of these legislative ...

Buck voted Nay

Passed 419/5 on Sep 10, 2019.

Buck voted No

Buck voted No

Passed 218/208 on Jun 18, 2015.
This vote made H.R. 2146 the vehicle for passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal currently being negotiated. H.R. ...

Buck voted Yea

Passed 338/88 on May 13, 2015.
The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of ...

Missed Votes

From Jan 2015 to Apr 2021, Buck missed 215 of 3,622 roll call votes, which is 5.9%. This is much worse than the median of 2.1% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.

Show the numbers...

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: