An ex-GOP congressman blasts the 'populist wave' that he says has corroded conservatism: 'Now we're impeaching people like it's some kind of carnival'

Former Colorado Republican Rep. Ken Buck has had some choice words for House Republicans since leaving Congress last month.

• Ex-Colorado Rep. Ken Buck said many conservatives have compromised their values over populism.
• "The Constitution is just a thing of the past to the very same people who were Tea Party patriots," he told WaPo.
• Buck retired from the House in March, leaving months before his term was set to end.

During his nearly decadelong tenure in the US House of Representatives, Ken Buck was well-known for his conservatism.

But the former Colorado congressman recently told The Washington Post that over the years, some of his fellow conservatives shifted their focus from curtailing government spending to shielding former President Donald Trump from criticism — while becoming more partisan in the process.

"I think that the populist wave has eroded the conservative values that I had when I came to this place," the former lawmaker told the newspaper. "Now we're impeaching people like it's some kind of carnival and the Constitution is just a thing of the past to the very same people who were Tea Party patriots 10 to 12 years ago."

In February, Buck was one of just three House Republicans to reject the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whom GOP leaders have tussled with over the Biden administration's immigration policies.

Last month, shortly before he left Congress, the House Freedom Caucus voted to remove Buck from the group for "nonattendance," according to Axios.

During his interview with the Post, Buck also stressed that the desire for ideologically pure pieces of legislation has been detrimental to the GOP's ability to secure conservative victories, adding that "you have to have consensus" to find success on Capitol Hill.