[11] Notwithstanding his efforts to uphold civility and restore bipartisan comity to the House, Skaggs was often criticized for being partisan and voting along party lines.

[8] Though he was well known for his liberal voting record, he was a strong opponent both of the presidential line-item veto, once suing to block it, and President Clinton's use of military force without congressional approval.

[12] After retiring in 1999, Skaggs served as an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado and as executive director of the Center for Democracy & Citizenship at the Council for Excellence in Government for several years before moving back to Colorado to serve as executive director of the state Department of Higher Education from 2007 until resigning in 2009.

After control of the House changed to the Republicans in 2010, former Florida Representative and CIA Director Porter Goss became OCE board chair, with Skaggs as co-chair.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's David E. Skaggs Research Center in Boulder, Colorado, for which he secured funding, is named in his honor.

[19] He leads the legal team in a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Colorado's so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights ("TABOR").

In January 2023, Skaggs was one of several applicants to fill the Colorado House District 12 seat vacated by the resignation of Rep. Tracey Bernett.

In a column for The Denver Post, he praised Joe Biden's presidency but expressed doubt over his odds at re-election, and wrote that "he should step aside, as Lyndon Johnson did in March 1968 [...] preserve the splendid legacy he has earned, and avoid the embarrassment he doesn't deserve".