An in-depth conversation with Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler

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    ATLANTA, Ga. (WGCL) — From wealthy business executive to United States Senator, Kelly Loeffler’s first week on the job is now in the books.

Loeffler sat down exclusively with CBS46’s Carolyn Ryan for her first interview, since being sworn in last Monday, to talk about her accomplishments so far, her impressions of Washington and everything in between!

In the first week, Senator Loeffler signed six GOP bills, including three on abortion.

“I was proud to support three pro-life pieces of legislation, in terms of becoming a co-sponsor on those, so really what I’m doing is making sure that I am up there every day fighting for innocent life,” said Loeffler.

The Senator, who replaced now-retired Senator Johnny Isakson, says she’s also going to fight for President Trump in the Senate’s impeachment trial that may begin as early as this week. But while she has made clear she has the President’s back, what’s not clear is if the President has hers.

The President adamantly pushed Governor Brian Kemp to appoint Representative Doug Collins to the vacant Senate seat, not Loeffler. And since Loeffler’s swearing in, he has yet to publicly express support for her, or even call her to congratulate her. Senator Loeffler says, she’s confident she will earn his trust.

“I’m very focused on working with the White House, I had a meeting there this week to work on what are the legislative priorities, and I’m very aligned with the White House. I know I’m going to continue to earn his trust and confidence, but in the meantime I’m going about getting my work done for Georgia in the way I’ve committed to getting it done and working closely with President Trump to make sure that he understands that I am a new voice for him. I’m here to grow the party and I’m going to work hard every single day to do that.”

Senator Loeffler will be working on several key committees including the Veterans Affairs Committee, the Agriculture Committee and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

However, it’s the Ag Committee that has caused some controversy. The Ag Committee, which she will now serve on, oversees the agency responsible for regulating her husband’s financial firm. Some argue that could be a potential conflict of interest. However, Senator Loeffler is adamant she will recuse herself, if needed, on a case by case basis.

And while she is receiving a slew of criticism from both sides of the aisle, she says she is focused on getting to work in those very important committees.

“First of all, for veterans – on Veterans Affairs, making sure that Georgia remains one of the best places to be a veteran in America. We have over 700,000 veterans in the state of Georgia; making sure that they have the access they need to health care making sure they have training as they transition to the private sector with all the respect and dignity, we owe them,” said Loeffler. “In addition, my work on the Ag Committee, making sure that farmers have access to the things that they need in our state. This is our oldest and largest industry, and in fact 1 in 7 jobs in Georgia relates to agriculture, so it’s an absolute economic imperative,” she said.

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