Alabama Sen. Katie Britt came to national prominence in 2024 with an image as a firebrand on the right but has developed a reputation as a bipartisan deal maker in the Senate.
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Senator Katie Britt was introduced to a national audience in 2024 when she gave the Republican response to President Biden’s State of the Union. What many viewers saw was an over-the-top firebrand. But in the Senate, the Alabama freshman has been building a different reputation as a bipartisan dealmaker. Now she’s negotiating changes to how immigration agents operate after deadly shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. NPR congressional reporter Sam Gringlas has more.
SAM GRINGLAS, BYLINE: Two years ago, from her homey kitchen in Montgomery, Senator Katie Britt took on what’s often called the worst assignment in politics.
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KATIE BRITT: Our families are hurting. Our country can do better.
GRINGLAS: Standing in as party frontman to rebut the president is a daunting task for any politician. But even some Republicans describe Britt’s performance with words like baffling and bizarre. Actress Scarlett Johansson spoofed it on “Saturday Night Live.”
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SCARLETT JOHANSSON: (As Katie Britt) And I have the honor of (laughter) serving the great people of Alabama.
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JOHANSSON: But tonight, I’ll be auditioning for the part of scary mom.
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GRINGLAS: Colleagues say this caricature of Britt as a hyper-partisan MAGA mom is just not true. Alabama political columnist Steve Flowers first met Britt when she was a teenager. He was so impressed, Flowers called up his friend, Alabama Senator Richard Shelby.
STEVE FLOWERS: I said, Shelby, I’ve just met a young lady who’s got U.S. senator or governor written all over her.
GRINGLAS: Britt went to work for Shelby, who for years was the top Republican on appropriations. He taught young aides that making deals across the aisle hinges on trust and often genuine friendship, says former staffer Dayne Cutrell.
DAYNE CUTRELL: Quite frankly, it’s the ingredient that is necessary for any of that to come together. Not only does she see it because of who she is, but she had a front-row seat to somebody that was able to do it for years to the benefit of the state.
GRINGLAS: When Shelby retired in 2022, Britt became the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Senate.
CUTRELL: She is the same person that wants to know not just you as an individual, but your family and what makes you tick and why it’s important.
GRINGLAS: That’s in part why Britt was able to help bring Democratic Senator Tim Kaine onto a deal to end the shutdown last fall.
TIM KAINE: I was testing ideas with her. And when it looked like things might break down – hey, come on, let’s keep talking. We may disagree, but I’ll get a read on where’s the caucus, where’s the White House. And that’s helpful.
GRINGLAS: In a time when compromise seems to have little political upside, I asked Britt why wade in.
BRITT: Anybody can go sit in a corner. Two-year-olds do it best. And we have a lot of people that are taking their ball and sitting in the corner. I just think that this is too critical of a moment in our country’s history to do that.
GRINGLAS: For Britt, one critical moment was the viral image of a 5-year-old boy in a bunny hat being detained by federal officers in Minneapolis, so much so that she raised questions with the administration. But after assurances from a top official, Britt instead focused her public remarks on criticizing Democrats for refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
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BRITT: Everybody on that side of the aisle knows that ICE and CBP will continue to be funded. Who’s going to pay the price? It’s the TSA agent. It’s the person working at FEMA.
GRINGLAS: That message has frustrated Democratic negotiators like Senator Chris Murphy, who were already irked when Britt called their demands a ridiculous Christmas list.
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CHRIS MURPHY: My wish is for my Republican colleagues to be just as upset for the children that are being traumatized right now.
GRINGLAS: Britt’s appeal as a mediator comes from trust across the aisle with Senate leadership and the White House. But maintaining all three is a difficult balance. Britt was one of a few Republicans to criticize a racist video posted on President Trump’s social media. Trump saw that as disloyalty, CNN reported, which Britt’s office called fake news. Columnist Steve Flowers says there are two types of senators, ideologues…
FLOWERS: You may have one senator who may be a Fox News-chasing publicity hound, who wants to be known as a right-wing fire-eater.
GRINGLAS: …And facilitators.
FLOWERS: That’s what Katie’s role will be, is bring home the bacon, get things done for Alabama, as well as voting conservative.
GRINGLAS: Flowers says it’s not as easy to be a facilitator today.
FLOWERS: Maybe she can balance it. But she doesn’t owe Trump anything. She’ll be there long after Trump’s gone.
GRINGLAS: Britt is facing a more immediate test, as immigration talks show little progress.
Sam Gringlas, NPR News, Washington.
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