But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Troy A. Carter
- ✓ Backs 1 of 1 tracked bills to restrict weapons transfers
- Backed with $15K by PACs we track that support U.S. weapons funding for the government of Israel (lifetime)
Carter says he has always supported Israel's right to defend itself, and in 2026 he backed an amendment limiting U.S. security funding for the government of Israel, calling it "a vote for accountability". He also presses for the full delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
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Deep Dive
Carter represents Louisiana's 2nd District, which runs from New Orleans up the river toward Baton Rouge, and he is the sitting member.
His record points in two directions and he has explained both himself. In April 2024 he led thirteen members of Congress in a letter to President Biden that opened by calling Israel "an essential ally in the Middle East" with the right to defend itself against Hamas, and then turned to the other half of the question: "the Israeli government is responsible for addressing this humanitarian crisis, on par with the government's duty to self-defense." The letter also told the President that "foreign military aid generally should only be conditional under extreme circumstances" and that its signatories were watching such circumstances unfold.
Two years later he acted on that condition. Announcing his support for Representative Thomas Massie's amendment limiting security funding, Carter wrote that "our support for an ally does not mean we should remain silent when innocent lives are being lost on such a devastating scale", and that Prime Minister Netanyahu's government "has impeded efforts toward peace and protecting innocent civilians". He closed with a sentence that leaves little room: "I firmly state that the policies of the Netanyahu government cannot continue."
On aid to Palestinians he has been steady. He welcomed the 2025 Middle East peace agreement as "a sign of hope for the future and an end to the suffering too many Israeli and Palestinian families have endured", and said in the same statement that he hoped "families in Gaza receive humanitarian aid" and "that Hamas is fully disarmed". In January 2026 he signed a letter urging stronger action against annexation in the West Bank, one of seventy-four members of the House and Senate to do so.
The record
Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 6 tracked votes · Backs 1 of 1 tracked bills to restrict weapons transfers
How this mark works
We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.
See a dash? Ask the candidate where they stand, then send us their answer and we'll review it and update the mark. Or volunteer to help review candidates.
Voted to send weapons or funding in some, but no more than half, of their recorded tracked votes. (Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 6 tracked votes.)
The money
$15K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
In their words
Research log
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- [Position, 2026-07-15] Statement supporting Representative Thomas Massie's amendment limiting funding for Israel, on his own House site. Opened and confirmed word for word. Quoted: "I have always supported Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas and other terrorist organizations that threaten its people." And: "But our support for an ally does not mean we should remain silent when innocent lives are being lost on such a devastating scale." And: "In my view, Prime Minister Netanyahu's government has impeded efforts toward peace and protecting innocent civilians, including from violent attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. America has both the right and the responsibility to ensure that our assistance reflects our values and our commitment to human rights." And: "For that reason, I am supporting Representative Thomas Massie's amendment. It is a vote for accountability." And: "I firmly state that the policies of the Netanyahu government cannot continue."
- [Position, 2024-04-11] Letter to President Biden, which the release says he "led 13 Members of Congress in sending". Opened and confirmed word for word. The letter's own words: "Israel is an essential ally in the Middle East and has the right to defend itself against the terrorist organization Hamas." And: "the Israeli government is responsible for addressing this humanitarian crisis, on par with the government's duty to self-defense." And: "Foreign military aid generally should only be conditional under extreme circumstances. We are watching such extreme circumstances unfold and look forward to working with you to ensure any aid provided will not further deepen the crisis in Gaza."
⚠ **Multi-signatory letter.** He led it, and the card says so, but the wording is the signatories' collectively and is not sharpened into a personal characterization he did not write.
- [Reaction window, 2023-11-02] Statement on the Israel Security Supplemental, in which he objected that the package denied requested humanitarian assistance for Gaza and wrote that "Our ally Israel, and the Palestinian people, urgently require aid". Opened and confirmed. From the weeks after the October 7 attack, so it is not on the card summary and recorded here only.
- His recorded votes on the tracked bills appear as badges on this card, and the grounding for each sits in the record section rather than in the prose above. The 2026 statement is his own explanation of one of them.
- [Consulted, third party, 2025-08-11] Fight Back! News reports that the New Orleans for Palestine Coalition held a demonstration outside his district office on August 7, 2025 to press him to support the Block the Bombs Act, and that activists had sought a meeting for months. Opened and confirmed. This is other people speaking about him rather than his own words, so it stays on this page. The same article asserts that his top contributor in 2023-24 was the American Israel Public Affairs Committee; the tracked funding figure on this card is the site's own, and the article's claim is recorded here without being adopted.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- [Position, 2025-10-15] Statement on the Middle East peace agreement. Opened and confirmed word for word: "The Middle East peace agreement is a sign of hope for the future and an end to the suffering too many Israeli and Palestinian families have endured. We celebrate the hostages who have been reunited with their families. I sincerely hope that this moment brings real change: that families in Gaza receive humanitarian aid, that the remains of Israeli hostages are returned to their loved ones, and that Hamas is fully disarmed."
- [Position, 2026-07-15] The Massie statement also commits him to "a permanent ceasefire, the full delivery of humanitarian aid, and renewed negotiations that lead to two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace, security, and mutual respect" (confirmed, above).
Characterization of the conflict
- [Position, 2026-07-15] The Massie statement is where he characterizes it at length, quoted in full above. It names the destruction of "homes, hospitals, schools, and vital infrastructure" and settler violence in the West Bank, and it puts responsibility on the Netanyahu government while affirming Israel's right to exist in peace.
- [Position, 2024-04-11] The April letter's framing is quoted above.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- [Position, 2026-01-20] Signed the letter led by Senator Peter Welch and Representative Ro Khanna urging a stronger response to annexation efforts in the West Bank. Opened and confirmed: the release's House signatory list prints "Troy Carter (D-LA-02)". Seventy-four members of the House and Senate signed.
- [Prior, undated on its page] A privately financed congressional trip to Tel Aviv is recorded at LegiStorm. Listed here for completeness; the page gives no date that can be relied on and nothing is claimed from it on the card.
- One item is offered and NOT used: a July 2026 letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu about a barbed-wire fence at Umm Al-Kheir, said to be co-signed by him. Its carrier, https://raskin.house.gov/2026/7/raskin-delauro-casten-jacobs-and-111-colleagues-demand-netanyahu-remove-barbed-wire-fence-blocking-students-path-from-west-bank-village-umm-al-kheir, opens and does not name him anywhere. Recorded so a reader can see the gap; nothing is claimed from it.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- [Position, 2024-05-08] A primary co-lead on the House resolution recognizing Jewish American Heritage Month, which calls on public officials to counter antisemitism. Opened and confirmed that the release names him. He is recorded as re-leading the same resolution in 2025 and 2026.
- [Prior, 2023-04-27] Spoke at a Congressional Jewish American Heritage Month breakfast on combating antisemitism.
- [Position, 2025-03-11] He is reported to have criticized a Department of Education civil rights notice concerning Tulane University while saying the nation "should not tolerate hate". The address given for it, https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/education/us-department-of-education-threatens-tulane/289-2f714b9f-9302-45f1-970a-5e1681c51a1e, does not open, so it is written out here rather than linked and the wording is not quoted on the card.
Race and status context
- Sitting representative for the district, qualified on Louisiana's certified list for the all-candidate November election; a December runoff follows between the top two if nobody clears half the vote. Five candidates are on the ballot in this district.
- A House Homeland Security hearing exchange in November 2023 about campus protests is reported at a YouTube address, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ma5vFcD8_8, which was not opened; it is in the reaction window in any case.
Also in this race
- –No Position Found Peter Williams (Republican)
- –No Position Found Renada "Honey" Collins (Independent)
- –No Position Found Walter "Rocky" Beach (Independent)
- –No Position Found Lisa Ballay (Libertarian)
All Louisiana candidates.
See everyone on the Louisiana ballot →But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps. Open Find Your Candidates for votes, funding and contact details.