The House has done its job in keeping the government open and running — it’s the Senate’s Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, getting in the way, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter said Tuesday.

Carter, the longtime representative for Georgia’s 1st District, spoke to Hinesville Rotary Club members about the ongoing government shutdown, among several topics. U.S. House members are back at home until Monday while the Senate and the White House try to iron out differences in continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded. “It’s anybody’s guess what’s going to happen,” Carter said.

The House passed what Carter called a clean continuing resolution to keep the government funded through November 21. As the measure stalls in the Senate, federal workers may miss upcoming paychecks, and soldiers may miss their October 15 paychecks too. Also, the fund for WIC — the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children program — is running out of money.

“It is impacting people,” he said. “It impacts Hinesville and Liberty County tremendously. It is going to impact people even more as time goes on.”

The last shutdown lasted 35 days, he said. He does hold out hope that if the looks like the Senate Republicans are getting close to 60 votes — the number needed to avoid a filibuster — there may be either more Democrats siding with the Republicans or even those Republicans reluctant to support a continuing resolution signing on to the bill.

“We’re willing to negotiate,” Carter said of his fellow Republicans, “but open the government first.”

The sticking points for Democrats, Carter said, are the end of subsidies approved during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those subsidies were planned to end with the pandemic’s end.

“If they wanted them to permanent, they could have. But they didn’t,” he said.

The Working Families Tax Act — the now official title of what was referred to as the “big, beautiful bill” — is saving Georgians $5,000 a year, Carter said. The legislation removed income taxes on tips and overtime, and expanded the child care tax credit.

Carter also rebuked attacks the measure kicked thousands of Medicaid. Carter chairs the Subcommittee on Health for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

“What we did was make Medicaid better,” Carter rebutted. “It is a safety net program for the most vulnerable in our society.”

House Republicans, in passing the Working Families Tax Act, removed provisions to allow those in the country illegally to receive Medicaid benefits. Carter said some states were extending those benefits to illegals, charging they were using state dollars instead of federal dollars for the coverage. But, he said, they replaced the money the state was using with money from the federal government.

It also stopped providing Medicaid to the able-bodied and instead instituted a measure that they had to either work or volunteer 20 hours a week to be eligible, Carter added.

“It is not for somebody who is able-bodied,” he said. “They would be better off in some of the other Affordable Care programs, but not Medicaid.”

Carter said ending the shutdown and discussing some of the concerns is necessary. He pointed out Georgia’s two senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, so far have voted against re-opening the government. Carter also is a candidate for Ossoff’s Senate seat, which is up for election in 2026.

“They want to negotiate on health care issues. We do need to negotiate. We should,” he said. “However, we need to open the government back up. You shouldn’t be using troops or WIC as leverage. It’s not fair to the American citizens.”

Carter also said President Trump has delivered on two of his central campaign promises — making America more prosperous and making America safer. The Working Families Tax Act is doing that, he said, and he also said the president is using tariffs as a lever to bring manufacturing jobs to the U.S. Carter, a retired pharmacist, said 74.2% of U.S. pharmaceuticals were made in the U.S. in 2003. That number dipped to 37% by 2023.

“They are having an impact and for some companies, it’s not good,” Carter acknowledged of the tariffs. “But he’s trying to bring back manufacturing back to America. I applaud what he’s done with tariffs.”

The nation’s borders are secure, Carter added, and he said it is now a much different feeling walking around Washington, D.C.

“It’s nice to go to Union Station and not be accosted when you’re on the sidewalk,” he said.

Carter also applauded President Trump’s foreign policy work, and has nominated the president for a Nobel Peace Prize. Carter pointed to the president’s efforts to bring the war in Ukraine to an end and also to his plan to end the conflict in Gaza. Tuesday marked the two-year anniversary of Hamas’ attacks in Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people and resulted in several hundred people being taken hostage and hidden throughout Gaza.

The president’s plan calls for the release of the remaining hostages and the remains of the hostages who have died in captivity, along with the pull back of Israeli forces in Gaza. The second step, which Carter acceded will be harder, is to form a new governance for Gaza.

“He is achieving peace through strength and I applaud him for that,” Carter said. “Whether you like him or not, it’s the results that we’re looking at here.”

Carter also said he does not foresee President Trump authorizing sending troops to Ukraine or to Venezuela in drug interdiction efforts, as the administration has trumpeted attacks on suspected drug boats in open waters.

“He is a president of peace,” Carter said.

Carter also defended current Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Carter called Kennedy “a good friend,” and attended his swearing in.

He also said the secretary is not anti-vaccine. Some vaccines, such as those for MMR, or measles, mumps and rubella, should be taken, Carter declared.

“He has said they have a role,” Carter said. “But people ought to have that ability to make that decision for themselves.”

Carter also decried acts of political violence, such as the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

“Political violence has no place in our society,” he said.

Now in his sixth term in office, Carter said he has seen a change across the nation following Kirk’s death.

“It is a spiritual revival in this country,” he said. “It has really caused a spiritual revolution in this country I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed before.”