Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson was elected House speaker on Wednesday, three weeks after California Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the position and the chamber was left without a leader.
Johnson, 51, an evangelical Christian and constitutional lawyer, was first elected to represent the 4th Congressional District of Louisiana in 2016. He was nominated for the speakership Tuesday after Minnesota Rep. and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer was nominated and dropped out four hours later.
Johnson previously chaired the conservative Republican Study Committee and currently serves as the House Republican Conference vice chair. He sits on the Judiciary Committee, the Armed Services Committee and the Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government.
Here are five things to know about Johnson.
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Louisiana ties
Johnson was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and holds both a bachelor's and a law degree from Louisiana State University.
2020 election
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Following the 2020 election, Johnson played a key role in an argument aimed at keeping Donald Trump in power after his election loss. He argued that certain voting procedure changes made by some states during the Covid-19 pandemic were unconstitutional.
Around the same time, Johnson spoke on a Louisiana radio show and called for further investigation into a conspiracy theory involving Hugo Chávez and Dominion Voting Systems.
Johnson joined many of his GOP colleagues in voting against certifying the 2020 presidential election results from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Voting record
The congressman’s voting record has earned him a lifetime rating of 92% from the American Conservative Union and 90% from Heritage Action.
He has also long voted against legal abortions, earning an A+ rating from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
Johnson voted against bipartisan legislation to codify same-sex marriage, a bill that passed and was signed into law in 2022.
Since Biden was elected, Johnson has voted against establishing an independent Jan. 6 commission, the infrastructure law and the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
Johnson voted for a debt limit law that will suspend the nation’s debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025. It was negotiated by McCarthy and Biden. He then voted against the stop-gap bill to avert a government shutdown earlier this month.
He weighed in on a way to avert the looming Nov. 17 deadline in an Oct. 23 letter proposing another short-term funding bill through Jan. 15 or April 15, “to ensure the Senate cannot jam the House with a Christmas omnibus,” the letter said.
Legislation
Johnson wrote the “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act of 2022,” which seeks to prohibit the use of federal funds to give kids under 10 sex education on any LGBTQ+ topics.
The legislation aims to keep federal funds from developing, implementing, facilitating or funding “any sexually-oriented program, event, or literature for children under the age of 10,” his office said.
Life outside of the House
In recent years, Johnson taught a class titled “Constitution and Free Enterprise” at Liberty University, according to Business Insider. Liberty University is a private evangelical Christian university in Virginia.
The father of four also hosts a podcast called “Truth Be Told” alongside his wife, Kelly Johnson. The podcast is centered on “thoughtful analysis of hot topics and current events from a Christian perspective,” the podcast website says.
