Katie Britt

[3] She was president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama from 2019 to 2021, and was chief of staff for her Senate predecessor, Richard Shelby, from 2016 to 2018.

[14] In 2007, she left Shelby's staff and worked as a special assistant to University of Alabama president Robert Witt.

[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.

[22] During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she led a "Keep Alabama Open" effort to self-govern business affairs by avoiding shutdowns and maintain employment.

[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.

After leadership elections for the 118th United States Congress, she did not say whether she supported Mitch McConnell or Rick Scott for Senate Minority Leader.

[42] In February 2023, CoinDesk reported that Britt was one of three members of Alabama's congressional delegation who received money from FTX, a defunct cryptocurrency exchange, alongside Robert Aderholt and Gary Palmer.

[44] In March 2023, after Mexican law enforcement occupied a port in Quintana Roo owned by the Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials Company, Britt joined other members of Alabama's congressional delegation in negotiating the forces' withdrawal.

[47] A 2024 study by McCourt School of Public Policy of Georgetown University ranked Britt as the least bipartisan U.S. senator in 2023.

[48] On March 7, 2024, Britt gave the Republican response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address, which he delivered earlier that night.

[50][51][52] In a TikTok post that went viral, journalist Jonathan M. Katz was the first person to identify Britt's unnamed woman as Karla Jacinto Romero.

[50] The New York Times phoned Jacinto in Mexico and was told that she found out on social media about Britt telling her story during the speech.

[55] Britt eventually acknowledged that Jacinto's experience preceded Biden's presidency but continued to criticize his immigration policies.

[61][62] New York magazine's Intelligencer described the speech as "lurid and banal" and delivered with a "broad range of over-the-top emotions";[63] The Independent wrote that journalists mocked it online as "dramatic", "creepy", and "insincere".

[64] Two days later, Saturday Night Live lampooned the response in what the Washington Post called a "stinging parody" in which Britt (portrayed by Scarlett Johansson) auditioned for the part of "Scary Mom".

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.

The Alabama Political Reporter corroborated these statements based on The Crimson White articles from the time of Britt's presidency.

[74] In July 2021, Britt supported a motion from Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to ban the teaching of critical race theory in public schools.

[78] In September 2022, she joined other Republicans in accusing the social media platform TikTok of being a "Trojan horse" for the Chinese Communist Party.

[79] In October 2022, Britt pledged to co-sponsor a bill introduced by Senators Tommy Tuberville and Tom Cotton to keep Chinese-owned companies from purchasing American farmland.

[86] Following the passing of the Protecting Our Kids Act in June 2022, Britt told 1819 News that she believes red flag laws are a "gateway to push [a] disarming agenda".

[89] In April 2022, Britt voiced support for the Alabama Vulnerable Child Protection Act (SB184), which criminalizes gender-affirming surgeries for transgender youth, as well as HB322, which was modeled after the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act and requires students to only use restrooms that align with the gender listed on their birth certificate.

[90] During the 2023 United States debt-ceiling crisis, Britt was among the 31 Senate Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.

Britt and her family at her inauguration with Vice President Kamala Harris , 2023
Britt with radio host Joey Clark in 2021