Rep. Justin Amash said Thursday he has decided to leave the Republican Party and become an independent, making his announcement two months after drawing fire for being the first party member in Congress to call for an impeachment inquiry on President Donald Trump.
"Today, I am declaring my independence and leaving the Republican Party," Amash, now an independent, wrote in an opinion piece for The Washington Post.
"No matter your circumstance, I’m asking you to join me in rejecting the partisan loyalties and rhetoric that divide and dehumanize us. I’m asking you to believe that we can do better than this two-party system — and to work toward it. If we continue to take America for granted, we will lose it."
His move comes less than a month after he stepped down from the conservative House Freedom Caucus, of which he was a founding member.
The lawmaker explained that he became a Republican after his parents, both immigrants, were party members and because he thought the party stood for "limited government, economic freedom, and individual liberty," the principles that made his family's American dream possible.
However, he said in recent years he's become "disenchanted with party politics" and he's "frightened" by what he's seeing.
"The two-party system has evolved into an existential threat to American principles and institutions," said Amash, who has been a frequent critic of Trump. Americans have allowed government officials to ignore constitutional order, he said, including on "separation of powers, federalism, and the rule of law," and as a result, representative democracy has almost disintegrated.
"These are consequences of a mindset among the political class that loyalty to party is more important than serving the American people or protecting our governing institutions," he wrote.