Who is Katie Britt? What to know about the GOP senator delivering the State of the Union rebuttal:-On Thursday night, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., will give the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech.
Who is the politician in their first term? Britt, who is 42 years old, is the youngest Republican woman to ever be elected to the upper house. She is seen as a rising star in a party where older men are the norm. On Thursday night, she will also talk about how she is different from President Joe Biden, who is the oldest president in U.S. history.
Who is Katie Britt? What to know about the GOP senator delivering the State of the Union rebuttal
She said before the speech that the Republican Party is the party of “hard-working parents and families.” She has two kids who are still in middle school and high school.
She said, “President Biden is out of touch and behind the times, and the results are putting America’s future at risk.” “I can’t wait to talk about our positive plan to protect the American Dream for future generations.”
It is important for Britt to be on the strong Senate Appropriations Committee. He is also on the Rules Committee and the Banking, Housing, and Urban Development Committee.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told USA TODAY, “I think she is the direction of the Republican Party.” He said, “She has young children and is a very articulate and positive person.” I asked him why she was picked to give the speech. I like her a lot.
USA TODAY asked to talk to Britt’s office, but they said no.
Senate experience – and a Trump endorsement
Britt got her start in politics as a press secretary in the office of former Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby. She then went to law school and started working as an attorney. She worked in Shelby’s office for more than ten years before going back to work for him on his reelection campaign and then as his chief of staff. Her other job was to lead and run the Business Council of Alabama.
“I don’t remember ever seeing somebody come into the Senate and hit the ground running faster than she has, both because of her innate abilities and because of her experience,” stated Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
Back in 2022, when she ran for Senate, former President Donald Trump backed her. This was after he stopped supporting her Republican primary opponent, Mo Brooks. At first, Trump was against Britt because she had gotten money from a super PAC backed by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., but when polls showed she had a big lead over Brooks, he threw his support behind her.
When she was sworn in as Alabama’s first female senator in 2023, she took over for her old boss.
Right now, Britt is getting ready to lay out the Republican agenda after Biden’s State of the Union speech. It is seen as a chance for rising stars to make their mark that they have to give the response to the president’s yearly speech. There have been times when well-known Republicans like Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and former House Speaker Paul Ryan gave the GOP answer.
Newt Gingrich, who used to be Speaker of the House, said on Sunday that Britt’s speech is a “big audition” for Trump to make her his choice for vice president if she “rises to the occasion.”
But it can also be a chance to make a mistake in public that sticks with people. As an example, Bobby Jindal’s image took a hit after he gave a “cheesy” and awkward response to Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in 2009.
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The shadow of the Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF ruling
The Supreme Court in Britt’s home state made a decision that shocked families across the country just over two weeks before her speech: The top court of Alabama said that frozen embryos used in IVF are children and are protected by state law.
Patients and doctors went crazy trying to figure out what the choice meant for people trying to get pregnant, often after years of struggling to have children. After the decision, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and other facilities in the state quickly stopped some infertility treatments out of fear that they could be charged with a crime for handling embryos.
Many Republicans showed up to say they agreed with the process. They also asked the Alabama lawmakers to make sure that families can keep using IVF without worrying about getting in trouble with the law.
After the decision, Britt also spoke out in favor of IVF. She has said that she is “pro-life” and that she thinks life starts at conception. But after the decision, she said, “Defending life and making sure that loving parents can continue to access IVF services are not mutually exclusive.”
Her enemies have not agreed with that point of view. They said Britt was “an anti-choice extremist” in a statement.
“Make no mistake: Britt and her fellow MAGA extremists are backing a cruel, dangerous, and unpopular anti-choice agenda that would outlaw abortion nationwide and risk access to IVF for Americans trying to grow their family,” DNC spokesman Alex Floyd said.
When Democrats in the Senate tried to move forward with a bill that would protect fertility procedures at the federal level, Republicans mostly wouldn’t say they would back it. On the Senate floor, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., stopped the plan.
But when Britt replies to the president on Thursday, IVF and worries about the procedure are likely to be on the conservative lawmaker’s mind.