Katie Britt | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2022 | |
| United States Senator fromAlabama | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2023 Serving with Tommy Tuberville | |
| Preceded by | Richard Shelby |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Katie Elizabeth Boyd (1982-02-02)February 2, 1982 (age 43) Enterprise, Alabama, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Alabama (BS,JD) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Senate website Campaign website |
Katie Elizabeth Boyd Britt[1][2] (néeBoyd; born February 2, 1982) is an American politician and attorney serving since 2023 as thejuniorUnited States senator fromAlabama. A member of theRepublican Party, Britt is the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Alabama and the youngest Republican woman to be elected to the Senate.[3] She was president andCEO of the Business Council of Alabama from 2019 to 2021, and served as chief of staff for the previous incumbent,Richard Shelby, from 2016 to 2018.
Britt was born Katie Elizabeth Boyd[4] on February 2, 1982, to Julian and Debra Boyd[5][6] inEnterprise, Alabama.[7] During her youth she worked at her family's business. Her family lived nearFort Rucker inDale County, Alabama.[8] Her father owned a hardware store and later a boat dealership; her mother owned a dance studio.[9] A graduate ofEnterprise High School, Britt was acheerleader and avaledictorian. After graduating in 2000[4] she studiedpolitical science at theUniversity of Alabama. She was elected president of the university's Student Government Association[10] and graduated in 2004 with aBachelor of Science. Later she attended theUniversity of Alabama School of Law, graduating in 2013 with aJuris Doctor.[11][12]
After she graduated from the University of Alabama,[13] Britt joined the staff of U.S. SenatorRichard Shelby in May 2004 as deputypress secretary. She was promoted to press secretary there.[14] In 2007, she left Shelby's staff and worked as a special assistant to University of Alabama presidentRobert Witt. At the University of Alabama School of Law, she participated in TaxMoot Court.[15]
After law school, Britt first worked at Johnston Barton Proctor & Rose LLP inBirmingham.[15] When the firm shut down in March 2014, Britt and 17 former employees joined the Birmingham office of Butler Snow LLP.[16] She started the firm's government affairs branch. In November 2015, Britt took a leave of absence from Butler Snow to return to Shelby's staff, working on hisreelection campaign as the deputy campaign manager and communications director.[17][18]
In 2016, Shelby named Britt his chief of staff,[18] and head of his Judicial Nomination Task Force.[12] In May 2016,Yellowhammer News forecasted Britt as one of "the people who will be running Alabama in a few years".[19]
In December 2018, Britt was selected as president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama, effective January 2,[20] the first woman to lead the organization.[21] As the head of whatAlabama Daily News called one of the state's "most influential political organizations", she focused on workforce and economic development through tax incentives, and addressed the state's prison system and participation in the2020 United States census.[22] During theCOVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she led a "Keep Alabama Open" effort to self-govern business affairs by avoiding shutdowns and maintain employment.[23] In April 2021, she was elected to the Alabama Wildlife Federation's board of directors.[24] Britt resigned from her positions at the Business Council of Alabama in June 2021, amid media speculation that she would run for the U.S. Senate.[25][26][27]
On June 8, 2021, Britt announced her candidacy in the Republican primary for the2022 Senate election in Alabama.[28][29] She had never previously run for public office and gradually climbed in the polls as the race went on.[30]
As a Senate candidate, Britt publicly aligned herself with former PresidentDonald Trump.[31] She gave credence to Trump'sfalse claims of fraud in the2020 presidential election.[32] She advanced to a runoff in the Republican primary against RepresentativeMo Brooks. Trump officially endorsed Britt on June 10, 2022, calling her a "fearlessAmerica First warrior". He had previously withdrawn an endorsement of Brooks.[33] Britt defeated Brooks in the runoff on June 21, 2022, with 63% of the vote. She then handily won the general election on November 8.[34][35]
After winning the election, Britt became the first woman elected a U.S. senator from Alabama (previous female U.S. senators from Alabama had been appointed to the position).[36] She was also the youngest Republican woman elected U.S. senator and the second-youngest woman overall (DemocratBlanche Lincoln being the youngest).[37]
Britt took office on January 3, 2023. After leadership elections for the118th United States Congress, she did not say whether she supportedMitch McConnell orRick Scott forSenate Minority Leader.[38] Before taking office, she was selected as the only incoming senator to serve on the newly formed Republican Party Advisory Council of theRepublican National Committee.[39]
Britt's first vote in the U.S. Senate was opposing aBiden administration nominee to aDepartment of Defense position.[40] During her first month in office, she co-sponsored eight bills and visited theMexico–United States border twice.[41] She continued to visit the border while co-sponsoring bills to curtail illegal immigration, as well as funding for a border wall.[42]
In February 2023,CoinDesk reported that Britt was one of three members of Alabama's congressional delegation who received money fromFTX, a defunctcryptocurrency exchange, alongsideRobert Aderholt andGary Palmer. Her office responded to an inquiry fromCoinDesk by stating that the money had been donated.[43] As a member of theSenate Committee on Appropriations, Britt joined 22 other senators in March 2023 in calling for an amendment to theU.S. Constitution requiring a balanced budget each year, while also criticizing the Biden administration's budgetary plans.[44]
In March 2023, after Mexican law enforcement occupied a port inQuintana Roo owned by the Birmingham-basedVulcan Materials Company, Britt joined other members of Alabama's congressional delegation in negotiating the forces' withdrawal.[45] She called the takeover unlawful[46] and met with Mexican officials at theWashington, D.C. embassy, condemning the actions taken at the port.[45] The Mexican personnel withdrew from the port by the end of the month.[47]
A 2024 study byMcCourt School of Public Policy ofGeorgetown University ranked Britt as the least bipartisan U.S. senator in 2023.[48]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Republican Response to the State of the Union Address, March 7, 2024,C-SPAN |
On March 7, 2024, Britt gave the Republicanresponse to PresidentJoe Biden'sState of the Union Address, which he delivered earlier that night. She criticized Biden's policies on immigration and the economy, called Biden "dithering and diminished", and said that Republicans "strongly support continued nationwide access to in vitro fertilization".[49]
After blaming Biden for the increase of migrants at the border and saying that she had visited the border shortly after taking office, Britt mentioned a woman who had told her that she was "sex trafficked by the cartels starting at the age of 12". Britt said: "we wouldn't be okay with this happening in a Third World country. This is the United States of America, and it is past time, in my opinion, that we start acting like it. President Biden's border policies are a disgrace." She appeared to imply that the woman had been abused recently in the U.S. because of Biden's policies.[50][51][52]
In a TikTok post that went viral, journalistJonathan M. Katz was the first person to identify Britt's unnamed woman as Karla Jacinto Romero.[50] Jacinto was 12 in 2004 when she was forced into prostitution in Mexican brothels; she escaped four years later. Jacinto was not trafficked into the U.S., whose president at the time wasGeorge W. Bush, not Biden.[50][52][51] Britt's communication director later confirmed to theWashington Post that Britt was referring to Jacinto.[50] Jacinto has said thatdrug cartels were not involved in her experience, though Britt on another occasion said that they were.[50] TheNew York Times phoned Jacinto inMexico and was told that she found out on social media about Britt telling her story during the speech. Jacinto said that she "thought it was very strange" and that she preferred to keep politics out of her work to stop trafficking. TheTimes called Britt's account "highly misleading and improperly contextualized".[53] Jacinto toldCNN that Britt "should first take into account what really happens before telling a story of that magnitude" and that she had not met with Britt individually, as Britt had implied, but at an event with other activists and government officials. Jacinto had told her story to a Congressional committee in Washington in 2015, one that had nothing to do with the U.S. border or "cartels".[54]
Britt eventually acknowledged that Jacinto's experience preceded Biden's presidency but continued to criticize his immigration policies.[55]
Britt's speech received mixed reviews ranging from bewilderment to dismay, including from Republicans.[56][57] Trump praised it and wrote, "Katie Britt was a GREAT contrast to an Angry, and obviously very Disturbed, 'President'" on his social media platform,Truth Social. SenatorMitch McConnell commended her speech saying: "I have zero criticism of her performance. I thought it was really outstanding."[58][59] Former Trump aideAlyssa Farah Griffin called Britt's decision to deliver her speech from a kitchen "bizarre", and Democratic RepresentativeBrendan Boyle criticized Britt's "overacting".[60][61]New York magazine'sIntelligencer described the speech as "lurid and banal" and delivered with a "broad range of over-the-top emotions";[62] TheIndependent wrote that journalists mocked it online as "dramatic", "creepy", and "insincere".[63] Two days later,Saturday Night Live lampooned the response in what theWashington Post called a "stinging parody" in which Britt (portrayed byScarlett Johansson) auditioned for the part of "Scary Mom".[64][65][66]
Source:[67]
Caucuses
Britt holdsconservative tofar-right views.[69][70][71][72]
Britt identifies herself aspro-life, a stance that was scrutinized during the 2022 U.S. Senate election. Her initial television advertisements emphasized her view on abortion, asserting that life begins at conception and equating late-term abortions to murder. In May 2022, just before the first round of the Republican primary, rival candidate Michael Durant criticized Britt's abortion stance. He pointed out a resolution passed by the Student Senate while she was president of the University of Alabama Student Government Association that demanded that morning-after pills be made available at the university health center's pharmacy, which was already prescribing the pills at the time. In response, Britt's campaign claimed she neither supported nor voted on the resolution and was unable to veto it due to the limitations of her position. TheAlabama Political Reporter corroborated these statements based onThe Crimson White articles from the time of Britt's presidency. Furthermore, Britt's campaign insisted she would "uphold the sanctity of life" if elected senator.[73]
Britt responded to theAlabama Supreme Court's 2024 ruling thatfrozen embryos should be considered living beings by saying that "defending life and ensuring continued access toIVF services for loving parents are not mutually exclusive".[74] She subsequently advocated for state and national bills to protect families' rights to seek IVF services.[74][75] Britt has stood byDonald Trump's plan to leave abortion as a state issue.[76]
In July 2021, Britt supported a motion from Alabama GovernorKay Ivey to ban the teaching ofcritical race theory in public schools.[77] She has been called a "vocal proponent" ofschool choice byYellowhammer News.[78]
In April 2022, Britt said, "Our schools should be focused on education, not indoctrination. Of course, our youngest students should not be learning about sex in the classroom—that's the role of parents, not teachers. We need to get God back in our classrooms and return students to saying the Pledge of Allegiance every day while standing for our flag."[79]
Britt is a critic of theChinese Communist Party. In August 2022, she charged theBiden administration with inaction and "total weakness" in regard to China, highlightinghumanitarian crises in China, as well as its dominance in manufacturing, saying that China was "taking jobs".[80] In September 2022, she joined other Republicans in accusing the social media platformTikTok of being a "Trojan horse" for the Chinese Communist Party.[81] In October 2022, Britt pledged to co-sponsor a bill introduced by SenatorsTommy Tuberville andTom Cotton to keep Chinese-owned companies from purchasing American farmland.[82] In March 2023, Britt and Cotton introduced the Not One More Inch or Acre Act, which would ban any Chinese national or Chinese entity from owning American land.[83] Britt and Cotton introduced the bill again in January 2025.[84]
In 2022, as a Senate candidate, Britt wrote an op-ed pledging that she would supportIsrael if elected, writing, "Supporting Israel is in America's interest, it's in Alabama's interest, and as a Christian conservative, I believe God commands us to support Israel."[85] In November 2023, she compared the October 7,2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel to theSeptember 11 attacks and said she opposed a ceasefire.[86] Britt supported a $14.3 billion aid package for Israel passed in the Republican-controlled House.[87] In July 2024, Britt andJim Risch introduced the Countering Hate Against Israel by Federal Contractors Act, a bill that would bar the federal government "from contracting with entities who boycott the State of Israel".[88]
In February 2025, President Trump announced that Britt would lead the U.S. delegation to attendUruguayan PresidentYamandú Orsi's inauguration.[89]
Following the passing of the Protecting Our Kids Act in June 2022, Britt told1819 News that she believesred flag laws are a "gateway to push [a] disarming agenda". She opposes gun laws that she says infringe on theSecond Amendment.[90] She has called the Second Amendment "a critical check against the timeless tyranny of government".[91]
Britt supports reducing legal immigration "to a sensible level" and prioritizing skills and merit over family associations. She has said she will introduce legislation to preventbirthright citizenship from applying to children whose parents entered the country illegally. She also supports and has pledged to sponsor theRAISE Act, first introduced by SenatorTom Cotton in 2017.[92]
In April 2022, Britt voiced support for the Alabama Vulnerable Child Protection Act (SB184), which criminalizesgender-affirming surgeries fortransgender youth, as well as HB322, which was modeled after theFlorida Parental Rights in Education Act and requires studentsto only use restrooms that align with the gender listed on their birth certificate.[79]
Following her election to the U.S. Senate, Britt named expansion ofbroadband access as one of her areas of focus.[30] After the release of theTwitter Files in December 2022, Britt joined Alabama representativesJerry Carl andBarry Moore in calling for reform toSection 230, specifically criticizingBig Tech and saying that she was looking forward to congressional hearings "getting to the bottom of what occurred atTwitter in 2020".[93]
In January 2025, Britt and SenatorsChris Murphy,Ted Cruz, andBrian Schatz introduced theKids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA). SenatorsJohn Curtis,Peter Welch,John Fetterman,Ted Budd,Mark Warner, andAngus King also co-sponsored the Act,[94] which would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media platforms and prevent social media companies from feeding "algorithmically targeted" content to users under 17. Britt said: "There's no doubt our country is in the throes of a mental health crisis, and the rise of social media usage among children and teenagers is inextricably tied to this issue. As a mom, this is something my own kids and their friends have to contend with every day. And as a senator, I know our nation has to contend with it to safeguard the next generation. Putting in place commonsense guardrails that protect our kids from the dangers of social media is critical for their future and America's future. I'm committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to put parents in the driver's seat and enact commonsense, age-appropriate solutions to tackle this generational challenge".[95][96][97]
Katie Britt is married toWesley Britt, a formerNFL player. They met while attending the University of Alabama[98] and married on March 8, 2008.[99] They live inMontgomery, Alabama, and have two children.[100][101]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Katie Britt | 289,425 | 44.8 | |
| Republican | Mo Brooks | 188,539 | 29.2 | |
| Republican | Michael Durant | 150,817 | 23.3 | |
| Republican | Jake Schafer | 7,371 | 1.1 | |
| Republican | Karla DuPriest | 5,739 | 0.9 | |
| Republican | Lillie Boddie | 4,849 | 0.7 | |
| Total votes | 646,740 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Katie Britt | 253,251 | 63.0 | |
| Republican | Mo Brooks | 148,636 | 37.0 | |
| Total votes | 401,887 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Katie Boyd Britt | 940,048 | 66.64 | +2.68 | |
| Democratic | Will Boyd | 435,428 | 30.87 | −5.00 | |
| Libertarian | John Sophocleus | 32,790 | 2.32 | N/A | |
| Write-in | 2,454 | 0.17 | +0.00 | ||
| Total votes | 1,410,720 | 100.00 | |||
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromAlabama (Class 3) 2022 | Most recent |
| Preceded by | Response to the State of the Union address 2024 | Succeeded by |
| Vacant Title last held by Renee Ellmers2017 as Chair of the Republican Women's Policy Committee | Chair of the Republican Women's Caucus 2025–present Served alongside:Kat Cammack | Incumbent |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Alabama 2023–present Served alongside:Tommy Tuberville | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | Order of precedence of the United States as United States Senator | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Eric Schmitt | United States senators by seniority 85th | Succeeded by |
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| Class 2 | | |
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| Class 3 | ||