Dozens of Republican members of Congress are holding town hall meetings across the nation this week as lawmakers return home for a legislative recess many surely dreaded. But in Georgia, Rep. Buddy Carter is among just a few GOP legislators scheduled to schedule an event.
Actually, he scheduled nine of them.
The Pooler pharmacist is planning on leading nine events between Tuesday and Thursday in his coastal district, including town halls in Jesup, Brunswick and Savannah.
According to the tracking website Town Hall Project, he's in rarefied air. Only two other Georgia House members have planned in-person town halls during the August recess: Democratic Rep. David Scott will hold an Aug. 19 event in Jonesboro and Republican Rep. Doug Collins will host a Wednesday evening town hall in Gainesville.
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson’s office has also said he plans to hold an in-person town hall meeting, while other lawmakers – including newly-elected Rep. Karen Handel of Roswell – have said they will organize telephone town halls.
Carter was the only of Georgia's 10 Republican House members and two U.S. senators to hold a town hall meeting in February amid a wave of national protests that have rocked GOP events since Donald Trump's inauguration.
Critics of the president's policies have vented at town halls and other forums to vent at the legislators, flooding their phone lines with a barrage of calls, channeling an avalanche of emails their way and holding protests and vigils outside their office.
The failure of the healthcare overhaul – Georgia’s GOP legislators all supported various versions of the legislation – and Trump’s tumultuous opening months have also fueled the critics.
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