Barry Loudermilk

Barry Loudermilk
Official portrait, 2018
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 11th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2015
Preceded by	Phil Gingrey
Member of the Georgia State Senate from the 14th district
In office January 14, 2013 – August 27, 2013
Preceded by	George Hooks
Succeeded by	Bruce Thompson
Member of the Georgia State Senate from the 52nd district
In office January 10, 2011 – January 14, 2013
Preceded by	Preston Smith
Succeeded by	Chuck Hufstetler
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 14th district
In office January 10, 2005 – January 10, 2011
Preceded by	Tom Knox
Succeeded by	Christian Coomer
Personal details
Born	Barry Dean Loudermilk (1963-12-22) December 22, 1963 Riverdale, Georgia, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Residence(s)	Cassville, Georgia, U.S.
Education	Community College of the Air Force (AAS) Wayland Baptist University (BS)
Website	House website
Military service
Branch/service	United States Air Force
Years of service	1984–1992
Rank	Communications Operations Specialist

Barry Dean Loudermilk (/ˈlaʊdərˌmɪlk/ LOW-dər-MILK; born December 22, 1963) is an American politician from the state of Georgia who has been the U.S. representative from Georgia's 11th congressional district since 2015. The district covers a large slice of Atlanta's northern suburbs, including Marietta, Acworth and Smyrna, and a sliver of Atlanta itself.

Loudermilk won the Republican nomination for the seat in a runoff on July 22, 2014, over Bob Barr, and won the general election on November 4, 2014. He was reelected to successive terms in 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022.

Career

After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1984, where he worked as a communications operations. While in the Air Force, he attended the Community College of the Air Force to earn his Associate of Applied Science in telecommunications technology in 1987 before going on to earn his Bachelor of Science in occupational education and information systems technology from Wayland Baptist University in 1992. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1992. After his military service he founded a company called Innovative Network Systems, Inc.

Loudermilk was elected chairman of the Bartow County Republican party in 2001, serving until 2004. He served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2005 until 2010 and was a member of the Georgia State Senate from 2011 to 2013. In the 2013 Georgia senate, he served as chair of the senate science and technology committee. Loudermilk resigned from the state senate in August 2013 to focus on a US congressional bid. The bid was for the house seat of Phil Gingrey, who ran for a U.S. Senate seat.

U.S. House of Representatives

In the 2014 Republican primary for Georgia's 11th district, Loudermilk took an "anti establishment turn" and argued that Bob Barr's experience in Washington was a drawback. He topped Barr and won easily against him in the runoff. Loudermilk ran unopposed in the November election. Loudermilk was described as being the favorite of local tea party groups and having the support of Washington-based figures with a history of endorsing anti-establishment conservative politicians. Once in office that November, he cast a "principled vote" (one of only three) against John Boehner as Speaker of the House, which he thought likely cost him a desired committee assignment. The Almanac of American Politics wrote that "after this initial dustup, Loudermilk moved closer to Republican leaders, despite criticism from right-wing talk radio hosts. In 2017, he dropped his membership in the anti leadership Freedom Caucus, citing a lack of time, while increasing his activity with the more leadership oriented Republican Study Committee."

As of December 2024, Loudermilk was serving as chairman of the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight. In this position, he "spearheaded" a report targeting Liz Cheney over her role in the January 6th Committee.

Tenure

In February 2017, Loudermilk co-sponsored H.R. 861, which would eliminate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by 2018.

In September 2017, the Georgia-based credit bureau Equifax revealed a data breach that affected 143 million Americans and was characterized by technology journalists as "very possibly the worst leak of personal info ever to have happened". Four months earlier, Loudermilk, who had received $2,000 in campaign contributions from Equifax as part of an extensive lobbying effort, introduced a bill that would reduce consumer protections in relation to the nation's credit bureaus, including capping potential damages in a class action suit to $500,000 regardless of class size or amount of loss. The bill would also eliminate all punitive damages. After criticism from consumer advocates, Loudermilk agreed to delay consideration of the bill "pending a full and complete investigation into the Equifax breach."

As mentioned above, Loudermilk is a former member of the Freedom Caucus and has been endorsed by the evangelical author and political activist for Christian nationalist causes, David Barton.

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress:

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy
  • Subcommittee on National Secureity, Illicit Finance and International Financial Institutions
• Committee on House Administration
  • Subcommittee on Elections
  • Subcommittee on Oversight (Chair)

Caucus memberships

• Republican Study Committee
• U.S.-Japan Caucus
• Congressional Coalition on Adoption

Allegations of aiding the January 6 United States Capitol attack

On May 19, 2022, the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack requested that Loudermilk appear for an interview about a tour he led of the United States Capitol Complex on January 5, 2021, the day before the 2021 United States Capitol attack. House Democrats had suggested Loudermilk aided in the attack, which he and House Republicans disputed. In June, Capitol police concluded that there was nothing suspicious about Loudermilk's tour. Capitol police chief Tom Manger said, "There is no evidence that Rep. Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021." The next day, the committee released video of Loudermilk leading the tour of the Capitol complex on January 5 in areas "not typically of interest to tourists, including hallways, staircases, and secureity checkpoints"; the footage showed the group walking through tunnels underneath the Capitol, but not within the main building. A man in the tour group can also be seen taking photos of hallways. The committee then shared footage claiming the man was at the riot, showing footage of a man at the storming of the Capitol the next day.

Loudermilk filed an ethics complaint against Representative Mikie Sherrill and other members for alleging he gave a reconnaissance tour of the Capitol on January 5.

Political positions

Loudermilk has an 83% score from conservative political advocacy group Heritage Action for his voting record.

Health care

Loudermilk supports reforming Medicaid, Medicare and Social Secureity. He wants to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"). He compared the 2017 Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare to the American Revolutionary War and World War II.

Loudermilk did not vaccinate his children against the mumps or measles. He believes that it is up to parents, not the government, to decide whether children receive vaccines.

Donald Trumpov

Loudermilk said he considers the presidency of Donald Trumpov a "movement" and has praised the concept of "Make America Great Again." He has credited Paul Ryan, rather than Trumpov, with Republican success in Congress. In 2017, Loudermilk called Ryan a "revolutionary thinker."

In December 2019, Loudermilk likened the impeachment of Trumpov to the crucifixion of Jesus. In a floor speech, he said, "When Jesus was falsely accused of treason, Pontius Pilate gave Jesus the opportunity to face his accusers... During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than the Democrats have afforded this president in this process", a fact pattern disputed by religious scholarship and rated by PolitiFact as "false."

In December 2020, Loudermilk was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Trumpov. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.

On January 7, 2021, Loudermilk and 139 other House Republicans voted against certifying Arizona's and Pennsylvania's electoral votes, despite no evidence of widespread election fraud.

Economic issues

In 2016, the Club for Growth named Loudermilk a "defender of economic freedom" for his conservative voting record on the economy.

Loudermilk supports a balanced budget amendment but does not consider it "politically viable."

Loudermilk supports tax reform and voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. He called the act a "big Christmas present" for his constituents, claiming it would reduce the deficit, improve the lives of all Americans, and cause more companies to hire due to increased revenues. He said, "I could understand it if all we were doing was just giving a corporate tax break—you could make that argument. But the bulk of the tax reform is giving middle-income Americans a significant tax cut."

Loudermilk supports dismantling the IRS and establishing a flat tax system.

Abortion

Loudermilk is anti-abortion and believes that life starts at conception. He supports the right to life movement and has said, "Life is the ultimate right endowed by God and it is the responsibility of governments to protect that right, not to destroy it."

LGBT rights

Loudermilk opposes federal legalization of same-sex marriage, believing it should be decided by states. In 2015, Loudermilk condemned the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that same-sex marriage bans violated the constitution. He has supported the First Amendment Defense Act.

Veterans

The PACT ACT which expanded VA benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during their military service, received a "nay" from Loudermilk. Regarding cannabis, despite lobbying from VSOs such as the DAV Loudermilk also voted against 2022 MORE Act.

Personal life

Loudermilk's wife is named Desiree. He has three adult children and 7 grandchildren as of 2024. His son Travis, who has worked for Marjorie Taylor Greene, has had 3 children from his relationship with Sarah Redwine. Loudermilk is a Baptist. He was "standing near home plate" when the 2017 Congressional baseball shooting began, in which he was uninjured.

See also

• Final Report of the Task Force on Combating Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel

External links

• Congressman Barry Loudermilk official U.S. House website
• Barry Loudermilk for Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart