Rep. Ken Buck Warns Republicans ‘We Need to Move On’ From Biden Impeachment On Eve of Retirement From Congress

Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) warned fellow Republicans it’s “time to move on” from the “sideshow” that is the Biden impeachment inquiry on the eve of his retirement from Congress.

Buck joined CNN’s Erin Burnett before his retirement, which he announced earlier this month, and urged Republican lawmakers to put more focus on spending bills and funding Ukraine than on proving corruption between President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

Buck’s comments come as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has faced blistering criticism from some of his colleagues over a last-minute $1.2 trillion spending package to avoid a partial government shutdown, as well as funding for Ukraine being up in the air as it has faced similar Republican pushback.

“There wasn’t a smoking gun, and they don’t have the votes to go through with it,” Burnett noted in her Thursday interview with Buck.

The Republican argued that the investigation was “warranted,” but that it was now time to wrap things up. He called the investigative hearings a “sideshow” that will likely conclude in the coming weeks:

I think the investigation is warranted in terms of looking at what Hunter Biden did, I think that we may want to look at laws that restrict the family members of the president and vice president in terms of outside influences but yes, I think for the most part, this investigation has run its course. It may go for another 4, 6, 8 weeks, but for the most part, I think that the evidence has been uncovered and the damage has really been done, and the American people need to assess exactly what kind of influence was there.

But we need to move on. We need to do a much better job of spending bills. We need to do a much better job of funding Ukraine, for example, there are a lot of major issues that we should be looking at. This is a sideshow and it should probably end in the next few weeks.

Buck did not call out any colleagues specifically, but he did sound the alarm on “people who are just throwing bombs in Congress,” arguing such divisive attitudes are what is leading him and others to make early exits from Congress.

“Obviously the number of people that’s leaving as always been scrutinized,” he said. “I think now you have to look at the quality of people who are leaving, who are frustrated, who can’t feel like they’re getting things done. And that’s an important number.”

Watch above via CNN.