WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 Two days after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that threatened fertility clinics in the state, Sen. Katie Britt placed a call to former President Donald Trump.
Britt wanted Trump, then on a plane headed to South Carolina, to understand the significance of what had happened. The that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law was already blocking access to in vitro fertilization at clinics across the state. Britt made the argument to Trump that the practice should be embraced by the Republican Party 鈥 it is pro-life and pro-family, she said.
Within hours of the conversation, Trump issued a statement that said he would 鈥渟trongly support the availability of IVF,鈥 and he called on lawmakers in Alabama to preserve access to the treatment.
鈥淚 got a call from Katie Britt, a very wonderful young senator in Alabama,鈥 Trump recalled in an interview with Fox News鈥 Sean Hannity several days later. 鈥淎nd I said, we want that. We want people to help. We鈥檙e on the side of women.鈥
After only a year in the Senate, Britt is wielding her influence 鈥 and her blend of experience as a former congressional staffer and mother 鈥 to carve out a unique role in the party. As the youngest female senator, she represents a new generation of Republicans in a volatile political era. And the party is now amplifying her voice, entrusting Britt to deliver the Republican response to President Joe Biden鈥檚 State of the Union speech on Thursday evening.
鈥淎t this decisive moment in our country鈥檚 history, it鈥檚 time for the next generation to step up and preserve the American Dream for our children and our grandchildren,鈥 Britt said in a statement with congressional leaders announcing that she would give the response.
Britt, 42, was after a in which Trump rescinded his endorsement of former Republican Rep. Mo Brooks and switched to backing Britt. On the campaign trail, Britt often touted her strong Christian faith and used the slogan 鈥淎labama First,鈥 echoing Trump鈥檚 鈥淎merica First鈥 rhetoric.
After she was elected, Britt said she would be a 鈥渕ama on a mission鈥 to get things done in Washington.
Soon after she was sworn in, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell tapped Britt to be one of several advisers who sit in on weekly leadership meetings. At the time, she said she believed she brought a critical perspective that was often missing in Washington, not only because of her age but also as the only Republican senator who is a mother of school-age children.
Announcing last week that Britt would give the party response, McConnell called Britt 鈥渁n unapologetic optimist鈥 and said she 鈥渨asted no time in becoming a leading voice.鈥
In her year in office, Britt has made immigration one of her key issues, participating in early negotiations on a Senate border deal before dropping out and eventually voting against it. She has also worked on issues with a family focus, co-authoring a bipartisan bill .
She joined a delegation of senators visiting Israel shortly after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas where she spoke emotionally and forcefully at a press conference, wearing a large diamond cross that rarely leaves her neck: 鈥淢ake no mistake, I believe that people of all faiths can exist in peace and prosperity,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut I do not believe that good can exist with evil.鈥
Britt has been a reliably conservative vote, rarely wavering from the party line, or Trump, on key issues. But her approach has differed from many of the other new Republican senators 鈥 all men 鈥 who arrived at the same time last year and joined with the right flank of the GOP conference in criticizing McConnell's leadership. Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, for example, in his opposition to Ukraine aid and traveled to Munich earlier this month to share that perspective with European allies.
Britt has so far preferred to operate more on the inside, forming relationships with colleagues behind the scenes and waiting to make her first speech on the Senate floor.
She has also purposefully reached across the aisle, becoming close with freshmen Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Peter Welch of Vermont. The three senators often eat dinner together, and Britt refers to them as her friends.
Britt became so close to Fetterman at the beginning of last year that she was one of the only people that the Democrat invited to visit him in the hospital after he checked himself in to be . She and her husband, former NFL football player Wesley Britt, still socialize with Fetterman and his wife. And when the towering Pennsylvania senator sees Britt in the hallways, he often loudly calls out his nickname for her: 鈥淎labama!鈥
Welch says he has two feelings about Britt being picked to give the GOP response. 鈥淥ne, I feel very good for her, and I think she鈥檒l do a great job,鈥 Welch said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 very disappointed that the Republicans made such a smart decision.鈥
Britt has also been clear that she sees senior women senators as her role models, regardless of party. In the hours after the , a Democrat, she exchanged texts with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and asked if she could sit with the other women senators as they on the Senate floor that morning. She said in one text that Feinstein, like Murray, had blazed a trail for her 鈥 a sentiment that Murray later said brought her to tears.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Appropriations panel, said that she鈥檚 thrilled to have Britt representing the party. 鈥淪he is a refreshing breath of fresh air and brings energy and a different perspective to our caucus, which I think is really important,鈥 Collins said.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat who leads the Appropriations Committee's homeland security subcommittee with Britt, says, 鈥淪he鈥檚 an all-star and Republicans know it.鈥
Murphy, who has participated in bipartisan negotiations on several issues, said he's hopeful that Britt is "going to end up being one of the people that ends up trying to help make the Senate a place that works.鈥
Britt鈥檚 relationships across the aisle are in the mold of her predecessor and former boss, Sen. Richard Shelby, who was the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee. But her bipartisanship rarely extends to her voting record. She voted in committee against the homeland security spending bill that she helped negotiate, saying that it didn鈥檛 do enough to stem migration at the southern U.S. border.
She has also been a conservative voice in her home state, frequently criticizing Biden and lamenting a country she has said she no longer recognizes. In December, she endorsed Trump for the presidency.
She is expected to continue that theme in Thursday鈥檚 response.
鈥淭he Republican Party is the party of hardworking parents and families, and I鈥檓 looking forward to putting this critical perspective front and center,鈥 she said in the announcement. 鈥淭here is no doubt that President Biden鈥檚 failed presidency has made America weaker and more vulnerable at every turn.鈥
___
Associated Press writers Stephen Groves in Washington and Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Ala. contributed to this report.
