pass the buck

May have originated with the game of poker, in which a marker or counter, frequently in frontier days a knife with a buckhorn handle, was used to indicate the person whose turn it was to deal. If the player did not wish to deal he could pass the responsibility by passing the "buckhorn" or "buck", as the marker came to be called, to the next player.

• "McLean was quoted in the Austin American Statesman as saying that although he had expected the guidelines to be ruled illegal, an attorney general's opinion […] was required in order to clarify the law. But critics say Bernstein and McLean simply passed the buck to the attorney general in order to placate the small group of fundamentalist Christians who had been lobbying them."
• "He closes the foreword by acknowledging that his proposals would have far-reaching impacts on railway staff, communities and industry - and passes the buck onto government to ensure that these consequences are managed appropriately."

• buck-passing
• buck-passer
• the buck stops here