Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) is scheduled to deliver the Republican response to President Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday.
Political parties not in the White House typically object to the president’s annual address to Congress. Biden accepted an invitation from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) about two months ago and is scheduled to speak on March 7 at 9pm ET.
Britt announced in a post Thursday that he had been chosen to be the Republican response to Biden’s speech.
“I am truly honored and grateful for the opportunity to speak directly to my fellow Americans on March 7th.” she wrote to x, formerly known as Twitter. “We will have candid conversations about the future of our country and outline a Republican vision to secure the American Dream for future generations.”
Here’s what you need to know about the senator:
Britt, 41, took office last year and became the first woman elected to represent Alabama in the Senate. She is also the youngest Republican woman elected to the Senate, at age 40, and the only Republican mother of school-age children in the Senate.
She defeated Democratic candidate Dr. Will Boyd in the 2022 midterm elections with 66 percent of the vote. Her campaign was supported by former President Trump.
Britt replaced six-term senator and former Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) in January. She won a seat on the committee and is the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the southern border.
Some Republicans are hopeful that Britt could be the future face of the Republican Party, as a leader who believes in America’s global leadership and distances herself from Trump-like politics.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky announced this week that he would step down from leadership at the end of the year, pointing to the Republican Party’s weaknesses among suburban women and independents. Two of Mr. McConnell’s aides have attended football games with Mr. Britt, and she has been mentoring him in the past year as an unofficial adviser as he may be eyeing her as a future Republican leader. I joined the club.
Britt remained one of the last Republicans in Alabama’s delegation to support Trump in the 2024 Republican primary. During December. She wrote an op-ed in which she cited inflation and illegal immigration under the Biden administration as reasons for supporting former President Biden, who is currently the Republican front-runner in the White House race.
Britt, who lives in Montgomery, Alabama, studied political science at the University of Alabama. She joined Shelby’s staff before earning her law degree and returned after her graduation.
In 2018, she was elected president and CEO of the Alabama Business Council.
She launched an initiative called . “Keep Alabama Open.”” was meant to counter public calls for a forced nationwide shutdown during the coronavirus pandemic.
She currently serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, as well as the Banking, Housing, and Urban Development Committee, and the Regulations Committee.
“Christian, wife, mother, faith and family are the center of Katie’s life,” her Senate website says. read. “She is committed to fighting tirelessly to protect the American Dream for our children and for our children.”
In 2023, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as White House press secretary under the Trump administration, delivered the Republican rebuttal to Biden’s State of the Union address.
The Hill asked Britt for further comment on his upcoming remarks.
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