On October 25, 2023, Mike Johnson of Louisiana became the fifty-sixth Speaker of the House of Representatives. Johnson was the last of four candidates to be considered for the position and was elected after the House went twenty-two days without a permanent Speaker. He, in what seems like a miracle, unified the far-right and the centrists of the Republican party to obtain his new highly sought after position.
Up until now, Mike Johnson was not a very known name in politics. This is because Johnson is fairly new to the political arena. He has only served about six years in the House and served in the Louisiana legislature from 2015-2017. For reference, the last four Speakers had between sixteen to twenty years of experience in Congress. Nancy Pelosi, the fifty-second Speaker, spent around ten years working for the Democratic party before holding her Congressional office for twenty years. She would then serve eight non consecutive years (2007-2011 and 2019-2023) as Speaker. Kevin McCarthy, the fifty-fifth and shortly held Speaker, served sixteen years in the House and four years in the California State Assembly. Before serving in an elected position, McCarthy spent fifteen years working for a California Congressman. Johnson, before assuming his seat in the Louisiana legislature, worked as a constitutional lawyer. His political experience is a quarter of his predecessors, calling concerns from even his own party. In an interview career Republican Mitt Romney said he knew “very little about him” and Johnson “has no experience in leadership.” Despite his lack of leadership and experience, Johnson has served multiple important House committees including the House Judiciary Committee and the House Armed Services Committee.
Johnson went into office promising a resolution to the crisis regarding the budget. This makes sense as Johnson is a very business forward politician and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Louisiana State University. However, his other political beliefs have caused concern from Democrats. Johnson is an avid supporter of the theory that the 2020 election was fraudulent because in his eyes, mail in ballots are unconstitutional. He also has voted against many very important bipartisan bills such as establishing a January sixth independent commission, the infrastructure law, the Violence Against Women Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and even the stop gap bill which averted a government shutdown over the budget. Johnson has also authored and sponsored bills that fall under the “Don’t Say Gay” movement. This movement consists of bills that censors material deemed sexually-orientated, which usually includes conversation about sexual and gender identity, from children and prevents children from receiving gender affirming care. He has authored and co sponsored bills that do both. Many Democrats are large critics of this conservative movement, calling it dangerous and Illinois (a historically blue state) became the first state to ban book bans. And without the support of House Democrats, it will be very difficult to pass legislation. Overall, this produces the question, should the Speaker of the House be on the extreme end of either ideology? And would a moderate Speaker help minimize the polarization of American politics?
House Republicans and Mike Johnson have until November to prove that this was the right decision and to finalize the budget, and the American voters will be the judge of that.
