Buddy Carter

Elections

Carter gave up his state senate seat in 2014 to run for Congress after 22-year incumbent Jack Kingston announced he was running for the United States Senate. He finished first in the six-way Republican primary–the real contest in this heavily Republican district–with 36% of the vote, short of the 51% required for outright victory.^[4] He then defeated Bob Johnson in the runoff with 53% of the vote.^[5] In the general election, he defeated the Democratic nominee, Brian Reese, with 60.9% of the vote, carrying all but two counties in the district.^[6] In 2016, he was unopposed in both the primary and general elections, and received over 99% of the vote against a write-in candidate.^[7][8]

Carter was reelected in 2018, 2020, and 2022.^[9]

Committee assignments

For the 119th Congress:^[10]

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Environment
  • Subcommittee on Health (Chair)
• Committee on the Budget

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Blockchain Caucus^[11]
• Congressional Western Caucus^[12]
• House Baltic Caucus^[13]
• Republican Study Committee^[14]
• Republican Governance Group^[15]
• United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus^[16]
• U.S.–Japan Caucus^[17]

2020 presidential election

Carter supported Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election and has promoted Trump's false claims of a stolen election. He called for the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Georgia to not be certified,^[19][20] and was part of a group of Republican legislators who unsuccessfully challenged votes for Joe Biden during the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count, even though federal agencies and courts overseeing the election found no evidence of electoral fraud.^[21]

Abortion

Carter supported the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overruled Roe v. Wade. He believes abortion laws should be made by individual states.^[22]

Agriculture

In 2023, Carter was among 16 House Republicans who signed a letter to the House Agriculture Committee opposing the inclusion of the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act in the 2023 farm bill. The EATS Act would have invalidated certain state and local laws regulating agricultural products sold across state lines, including farm animal welfare laws like California's Proposition 12, which requires that pork, egg, and veal products sold within the state adhere to minimum animal space requirements. The letter argued that the legislation would infringe on states' rights and harm U.S. national security by unfairly advantaging the Chinese-owned pork producer WH Group and its subsidiary Smithfield Foods.^[23]  

Drug policy

In 2017, Carter renewed his push to drug-test people who receive unemployment insurance.^[24]

On April 1, 2022, Carter voted against the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, which would have decriminalized cannabis at the federal level, allowing states to set their own policies.^[25][26]

Foreign relations

Carter voted to provide Israel with support following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.^[27][28]

In 2025, Carter introduced a bill authorizing President Trump to purchase or otherwise acquire Greenland and rename it "Red, White, and Blueland".^[29]

Gun policy

Carter is a supporter of gun rights, and has an "A" grade from the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund for his stances on gun issues.^[30]

In February 2018, during a town hall in Hinesville, when asked about mass shootings in America, Carter told attendees to not look to Congress for answers about gun violence, saying Congress is not responsible for gun violence in America.^[31]

Health care

Carter supports the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).^[32]

On July 26, 2017, Carter was asked during a live television interview if he supported Trump's criticism of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski for her opposition to the procedural vote to begin the Senate's healthcare debate. Carter said he did, adding, "Somebody needs to go over there to that Senate and snatch a knot in their ass."^[33] The incident prompted widespread media coverage.^[34][35][36]

Immigration

Carter co-sponsored a bill that would let illegal immigrants serve in the U.S. military in exchange for legal residency.^[37]

Carter supported Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail immigration from seven countries until better screening methods are devised. He said, "While I believe there needs to be thoughtful clarifications on the executive actions similar to Secretary Kelly’s announcement about lawful permanent residents, the number one priority of the federal government is to provide for the common defense."^[38]

Carter wants to prohibit all federal funding from sanctuary cities in Georgia (sanctuary cities prohibit city officials from asking about a person's immigration status when they report an unrelated crime).^[39] He also said he would like to test the huge backlog of rape kits in Georgia, except in sanctuary cities.^[40]

Carter spearheaded efforts to expand privatized immigrant detention and processing in Georgia, coordinating with Charlton County and the D. Ray James Correctional Facility.^[41]

LGBT rights

In 2017, Carter said he supported a ban on transgender people serving in the military.^[42][43]

Tax policy

Carter voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017,^[44] saying he believed it would make businesses in his district more competitive in a global market. He also said it would help his constituents earn and/or save more money.^[45] Carter is a sponsor of "H.R.25 The FairTax Act of 2023" which would abolish the current US tax structure and replace it with a yearly adjustable variable "national sales tax" (value-added tax) starting at 23% in 2025 to be administered by the states and remitted to the U.S. Treasury Department.^[46]

2026 Iran massacres

During the 2026 Iran massacres, a group of Iranian Americans in Atlanta, Georgia, protested the employment of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani - daughter of Ali Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council who has been accused of being the mastermind of the massacres^[47] - outside her place of employment at the Winship Cancer Institute.^[48][49] Ardeshir-Larijani was fired from her position following the protests.^[50][51] Carter has demanded that Ardeshir-Larijani's medical license to treat patients in the United States be revoked, calling it a threat to national security.^[52][53]