WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Republican Conference Vice Chair Mike Johnson (R-La.) was elected U.S. House speaker Oct. 25 following the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a series of failed GOP nominees to replace him.
Johnson, 51, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016, and represents Louisiana’s fourth congressional district in the northwestern part of the state including Shreveport. He was relatively unknown to some on Capitol Hill prior to his election. Johnson is Baptist, according to the Pew Research Center’s study of the religious makeup of 118th U.S. Congress.
A number of pressing issues await the new Speaker Johnson, including a looming deadline to avert a government shutdown in November, and debates over aid packages for Israel and Ukraine as they fend off conflict. Advocacy groups and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops previously cautioned against a government shutdown, urging lawmakers to come to an agreement to keep the government open. The U.S. bishops expressed concern about how a government shutdown could impact the poor and vulnerable, as well as ministry to U.S. military personnel.
In a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Johnson wrote, “It is the honor of a lifetime to have been elected the 56th Speaker of the House.”
“Thank you to my colleagues, friends, staff, and family for the unmatched support throughout this process,” he wrote. “It has been an arduous few weeks, and a reminder that the House is as complicated and diverse as the people we represent.The urgency of this moment demands bold, decisive action to restore trust, advance our legislative priorities, and demonstrate good governance.”
A contentious speaker election
McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted as speaker Oct. 3, after eight House Republicans joined with Democrats to remove him from the role in a historic vote, launching a contentious process to elect a new speaker. The ouster was the first such instance in U.S. history and left House Republicans fractured and without a clear successor to lead the House Republican majority.
Over three weeks in October, Reps. Steve Scalise (R-La.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) were each nominated to the role before ultimately withdrawing from consideration after failing to earn enough votes from their GOP colleagues to win the role in a vote before the whole House. But the House GOP ultimately coalesced around Johnson, electing him unanimously.
Johnson’s biographical information on his congressional website says the constitutional law attorney, husband and father of four “is widely recognized as a leading defender of the right to life, religious liberty, free speech, the Second Amendment and free market principles.”
But Johnson also played a key role in efforts by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn now-President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
When asked about his role in that effort by ABC News’ Rachel Scott in an Oct. 24 press conference, Johnson’s allies booed the question, and he did not answer.
Speaker Johnson will face Rep. McCarthy’s same troubles
Matthew Green, a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America in Washington who studies Congress, told OSV News that the messy process from ousting McCarthy to electing a new speaker was “indicative of the deep division within the Republican Party.”
“One of the things that struck me about the last three weeks was that you had upwards of a quarter of House Republicans refusing to accept their party’s nominee for speaker,” Green said. “We haven’t seen that since the 19th century.”
Johnson’s election would remove those divisions Green said, and his election was in part because House Republicans were “tired” of the chaotic process, and Johnson “checked enough boxes” for each of the party’s factions.
“I think he’s going to face the same problem that McCarthy faced, which is the party split between folks who are willing to accept half a loaf to avoid crisis and a shutdown, and a faction of the party that believes that confrontation, including shutdowns, are acceptable and effective,” Green said.
With Johnson relatively inexperienced in congressional leadership and deeply religious, Green expects the new speaker’s social conservatism to add an interesting element to how he approaches his role.
“These issues appear to be a passion,” Green said, “and then that can matter, for example, in setting the agenda of the House.”
A defender of life
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, called Johnson “a longtime defender of constitutional principles, chief among them the right to life.”
“He has boldly championed life as an activist, litigator, state legislator, and as a member of Congress,” Dannenfelser said in a statement on the organization’s website. “These strong credentials will help him lead the pro-life movement in this exciting and challenging new era as speaker of the House.”
Biden issued a statement congratulating Johnson. “As I said when this process began, whoever the Speaker is, I will seek to work with them in good faith on behalf of the American people,” the president said.
“I restated my willingness to continue working across the aisle after Republicans won the majority in the House last year,” Biden continued. “By the same token, the American people have made clear that they expect House Republicans to work with me and with Senate Democrats to govern across the aisle — to protect our urgent national security interests and grow our economy for the middle class.”
Biden urged bipartisan cooperation, including efforts “to avoid a shutdown in 22 days.”
“Even though we have real disagreements about important issues, there should be mutual effort to find common ground wherever we can,” he said. “This is a time for all of us to act responsibly, and to put the good of the American people and the everyday priorities of American families above any partisanship.”
In his statement, Johnson called House Republicans “united, and eager to work.”
“As Speaker, I will ensure the House delivers results and inspires change for the American people. We will restore trust in this body,” he said. “We will advance a comprehensive conservative policy agenda, combat the harmful policies of the Biden Administration, and support our allies abroad. And we will restore sanity to a government desperately in need of it. Let’s get back to work.”
