On the day before Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado leaves Congress, he became the first Republican in this entire Congressional session to back a Democratic discharge petition.
The petition involves an effort to force a vote on a $95 billion foreign-aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
“We’ve got to fund Ukraine and help people who are yearning for freedom,” Mr. Buck, whose resignation takes effect Friday, told reporters.
However, according to the House clerk, Mr. Buck‘s parting gesture only brings the number of signatories to 188, 30 short of the needed number. According to a report on Axios, Mr. Buck’s defection may not be decisive because numerous progressive Democrats who oppose aiding Israel have said they will not sign it.
Under the House rules though, Mr. Buck‘s signature on the petition is still valid until he is replaced by a special election, which won’t happen for more than three months.
The thin Republican margin in the lower chamber makes the party vulnerable to discharge petitions — which force a floor vote on a measure the majority’s leadership might want to bottle up for political or parliamentary reasons.
However, almost for that very reason, this has made Republican Party discipline, and thus control of the floor, complete until now.
Mr. Buck‘s last days in Congress have betrayed numerous bones of contention with conservatives, and the House Freedom Caucus voted Tuesday night to expel the longtime member, just three days before such a vote would become needless.