Facing a Republican-controlled White House, U.S. Senate and likely the U.S. House of Representatives, Democratic Congressman-elect Shomari Figures’ said his “mission and objective” of addressing issues in Alabama’s 2nd District doesn’t change.
For Republican U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, the GOP trifecta means being able to do more for Alabama and the country, she said.
Figures and Britt were on Alabama Public Television’s Capitol Journal over the weekend. Figures defeated Republican Caroleene Dobson for the AL-2 seat; Britt, elected to the Senate in 2022, endorsed Tump and campaigned for GOP Senators in contested races.
On Capitol Journal, Britt spoke about her conversations with the former president, now president-elect.
“Both his record of his time in office and what he was able to achieve — you look at that and it was truly tremendous — then you take a step back and take a look at my conversations with him on a personal level, when I’ve called him about things like IVF, when I’ve called him to talk about things like child care, when I’ve called him to just discuss the state of play and what’s at stake for our nation … he loves this country, he listens, particularly in our conversations back and forth, he asks questions. He’s decisive and he wants to do what is best for America.”
In his second term, Britt said Trump will have a vision for the country that “the vast majority” of people are excited about and the knowledge of how to execute it.
“I’m excited about being able to work with him, I’m excited about what he’s going to do for our country,” Britt said.
Britt is on the brink of being in the majority in the U.S. Senate for the first time while the GOP appears to have kept control of the U.S. House.
“We have a real opportunity right now as Republicans in the majority, with President Trump and his vision and holding both the House and Senate to get to work for the American people.
“And what the American people said Tuesday night is that we are ready for change, we are ready for you to start doing your job. And I think they expect results and they are worthy of results. So, that’s what we’ve got to get to work doing.”
Republicans have a chance “right off the bat” to address the expiring Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
She blamed current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, for not advancing quickly enough some major bills, including the appropriation package and the Farm Bill.
“We’re over a year past the deadline on the Farm Bill, and our farmers are hurting,” Britt said.
As she did earlier in the week, Britt said a Trump administration means Huntsville could become the permanent home of the U.S. Space Command headquarters.
Congressman-elect Figures discussed his decisive win Tuesday in Alabama’s Second Congressional District. He had a large win margin in Montgomery County and discussed the historical significance of Montgomery in the civil rights movement and the importance of the issues people today are worried about.
“It starts with an understanding of the issues that are resonating and the things that are concerning people,” Figures said. “As we went around this district, particularly Montgomery, hearing about health care, hearing about Social Security and Medicare, hearing about the challenges of Jackson Hospital…”
The hospital in downtown Montgomery has had financial struggles in the last year and is trying to restructure.
Figures said he ran on local issues and the next steps are building a transition advisory commission of people, Democrats and Republicans, he said, from around the district’s 13 counties, representing various issues.
“All with the goal of being able to go to Washington with an informed perspective of the issues,” Figures said. “And making sure that people know they have a voice at the table.
“At the end of the day, it’s not my job to go to Washington D.C to represent Democrats, it’s my job to represent the people of this district, so it starts there for us.”
Both Britt and Figures talked about how the Alabama delegation works across the aisle to help each other and the state.
“I’m in this to do the exact same thing,” Figures said. He said he’s heard from the majority of the delegation, welcoming him.
Figures was asked how he’ll work across the aisle if he’s in the minority in the U.S. House.
“Who is in the majority and the minority does not change the mission and the objective,” he said.
“The mission and the objective is to go find solutions and go find the federal resources to address the issues that are happening in his district. Now certainly, in a Democratic majority, you have a bigger seat at the table, but at the end of the day, the issues that need to be resolved remain the same regardless of whether a Republican or a Democrat is in the White House, whether Republicans or Democrats are leading the Senate and the House …”