Republican Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter, a candidate running in the 2026 Senate Republican primary, introduced legislation Thursday to codify President Donald Trump’s executive order recognizing two sexes, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.
Carter’s bill known as the Truth in Gender Act would allow Trump’s EO to become permanent law by codifying the president’s directive for government agencies to recognize the biological reality of sex by using “clear and accurate language” when addressing men and women, including using the term “sex” instead of “gender.” Carter, who is serving his sixth House term, is one of two well-known Republican candidates who has jumped in the GOP primary to challenge incumbent Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff thus far.
“Biological men cannot be women, and biological women cannot be men,” Carter said in a statement to the DCNF. “That’s a scientific fact. President Trump was spot on when he signed this executive order, and now we have the chance to codify it into law.”
Carter was the first Republican candidate to launch a bid following Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s decisions to opt out of the contest. Republican Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King has also launched a bid for Ossoff’s seat.
Carter has highlighted his support for Trump’s policies since announcing his Senate bid, dubbing himself a “MAGA warrior,” and emphasized his conservative voting record on transgender issues in two recent campaign videos.
Carter’s bill could face challenges on its quest to become law due to the Senate’s legislative filibuster, requiring 60 votes to pass most legislation.
The congressman has sought to contrast his conservative views with Ossoff’s left-wing stances on transgender issues. The Georgia Republican notably called on Ossoff to support GOP-backed legislation to bar biological males from playing in women’s sports at federally-funded institutions in February. Ossoff, however, joined Senate Democrats to block the bill from advancing.
The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act would have amended Title IX to withhold federal funding to K-12 schools and colleges that allow transgender athletes to compete on girls and women’s sports teams in school athletic programs.
Carter argued that his legislation, which seeks to permanently codify a government-wide “two-sexes” policy, is necessary to counter Ossoff’s voting record on transgender policies.
“With a clear definition of the two genders, we will be able to further protect female spaces from biological men masquerading as women and the radical liberal politicians, like Jon Ossoff, who put them there,” Carter also said.
The president’s EO defines male and female as “immutable biological classifications” and explicitly states that “sex” is not synonymous with “gender identity.”
An internal poll from the Carter campaign found the GOP candidate is leading the current primary field, though more than 40% of respondents were undecided, NOTUS first reported Wednesday.
A spokesperson for Ossoff’s campaign did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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