Photo by Erin Nelson.
Gary Palmer
U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer, a Republican representing Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District, admitted he doesn’t seek out TV cameras when he’s on Capitol Hill.
“I just do my job,” Palmer said.
Palmer was first elected in 2014 and has maintained the seat ever since, and is seeking another term Nov. 8. He faces Libertarian Andria Chieffo, who declined an opportunity to be interviewed for this story.
Palmer said both major parties have “monetized” extreme politics. Gerrymandered districts, he said, have resulted in more extreme candidates, using Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York as an example.
“I don’t know that short of a huge disaster … that I see us coming together anytime soon,” Palmer said.
After his second term, Palmer was elected to House leadership positions and said he was able to impact a number of policy decisions, including health care policy. While the late Senator John McCain ultimately helped defeat it in the Senate, Palmer said he was able to play a role in drafting a bill that would have repealed major parts of the Affordable Care Act, the hallmark legislation passed during former President Barack Obama’s administration.
Palmer said many folks don’t see members of Congress as "real people" and he’s tried to push his colleagues to remedy that through being transparent about the legislation they are introducing and creating videos in which they communicate with constituents.
In addition to not seeking out TV cameras, Palmer said he also tries to vote in the “best interest of the country long-term,” not just what is politically popular. That issue came up during two recent votes: one on capping the out of pocket cost of insulin at $35 and another bill, which was eventually passed, that expands health care access for veterans harmed by toxic burn pits. Palmer voted against both bills.
On the burn pit bill, Palmer said while he and the “vast majority” of the GOP support dealing with the ramifications of burn pits and getting veterans the help they need, he did not support the roughly $150 billion in discretionary spending, what he called an “unexpiring revenue stream.”
Palmer has family members who suffer from diabetes, but he opposed the insulin bill due to a desire to not overregulate drug companies.
“We have imposed such regulation on drug companies that we’ve run them out of business,” Palmer said. “It comes down to whether these bills are really what’s in the best interest of the American people.”
Republicans have gone back and forth from being the ruling party to the minority party during Palmer’s time in office and he has worked with multiple presidential administrations. The Obama administration was a lame duck administration so there was “little interaction” outside of Palmer’s opposition to the Iran nuclear deal.
Despite what Palmer called his “public persona,” meeting with former President Donald Trump was more like a “business meeting,” Palmer said, and added the former president was key when it came to deregulation and other conservative priorities.
The current administration of President Joe Biden is a “complete train wreck,” Palmer said. Palmer said the president has “incompetent” and “unqualified” people in the administration and added that it has been “very frustrating” to try and deal with them.
The issue of inflation has dominated the news cycle and tops many voter’s minds heading into the midterms. Palmer said the administration must stop flooding the economy with federal money and embrace an “all of the above” approach to energy to lower utility costs, including the use of next-generation nuclear, though Palmer said he does not believe that wind or solar works as well as sometimes promised. Regulatory costs must also be reduced as they represent a “hidden tax,” Palmer said.
Palmer also said lawmakers must ensure that students catch up on lost time due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that there must also be an emphasis on workforce development. While he voted against the massive infrastructure bill that funds it, Palmer praised the forthcoming arrival of the Northern Beltline.
Palmer said he has learned to not try and hold anything “you can’t let go of,” and to not be worried about who gets the credit when the job gets done.
For more on Palmer and his work in Congress, visit palmer.house.gov.
