Who is Newly-Elected US House Speaker Mike Johnson?

On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives broke weeks of deadlock and elected a new speaker, enabling the chamber to continue with its essential business, the most important of which is passing a 2024 budget.

The man selected by the narrow Republican majority was US Rep. Mike Johnson, who has represented Louisiana’s 4th congressional district since 2017. Having only been in Congress for six years, he has the shortest House tenure of any speaker in 140 years.

"To my colleagues, I want to thank you all for the trust that you've instilled in me to lead us in this historic and unprecedented moment that we're in,” Johnson said after being sworn in. “The challenge before us is great, but the time for action is now, and I will not let you down."

Still, Johnson isn’t exactly a household name in the United States, unlike several other GOP stalwarts who failed to gather the votes to become speaker. So, who is House Speaker Mike Johnson? Sputnik explains.

The Louisiana Native

Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1972, Johnson is the son of a firefighter and the oldest of four siblings. He studied business administration at Louisiana State University and later obtained a Juris Doctor from the institution.

Prior to entering political life, Johnson worked as an attorney, by way of which he entered advocacy for conservative political causes, most notably becoming the spokesperson for the Alliance Defense Fund, which later became the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a group that supports Christianity in schools and opposes abortion and LGBTQ rights and education.

In 2015, he ran unopposed in a special election for a vacated seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives. Two years later, he left office early to assume his seat in the US House of Representatives after winning the election.

Here are some of the political positions Johnson has defended since taking office:

Support for Israel

After being sworn in as speaker on Wednesday, Johnson said his first order of business, even before passing the urgent budget bills, would be to pass a symbolic resolution condemning Hamas and expressing support for Israel’s war against the Gaza-based militant group.

"We must not waver, our nation's greatest ally in the Middle East is under attack," Johnson said. "The first bill that I'm going to bring to this floor in just a little while, will be in support of our dear, dear friend Israel, and we're overdue and getting that done."

The United States, Johnson said, is going to show Israel and the entire world that the "barbarism" of Hamas is "wretched and wrong," and that the United States stands for the good in the conflict.

US President Joe Biden has also expressed similar attitudes, pressing Congress for billions in weapons for Israel and opposing calls for a ceasefire.

‘Transparency’ in Support for Ukraine

Like several other Republicans, Johnson opposes further US military aid for Ukraine without “transparency” for how the money is being used.

“American taxpayers have sent over $100 billion in aid to Ukraine in the last year,” Johnson said earlier this year. “They deserve to know if the Ukrainian government is being entirely forthcoming and transparent about the use of this massive sum of taxpayer resources.”

Johnson has voted against several recent appropriations bills for aid for Ukraine. He was one of over 100 Republicans who rejected a stand-alone $300 million aid package to Ukraine, a price tag that was ultimately pulled from Pentagon funding.

The newly-elected speaker earlier explained: "We should not be sending another $40 billion abroad when our own border is in chaos, American mothers are struggling to find baby formula, gas prices are at record highs, and American families are struggling to make ends meet, without sufficient oversight over where the money will go."

However, following the launch of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, Johnson gave his vocal support to Ukraine, including supporting “debilitating sanctions on Russia’s economic interests” and voting for the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022.

Conservative Christian Values

An evangelical Christian, Johnson has argued that student-prayer in schools is protected under the First Amendment, as is the teaching of Christian beliefs. He believes in Young Earth Creationism, or that the universe is roughly 6,000 years old, and as such, opposes the idea of human-caused climate change.

Johnson has long been an opponent of abortion and LGBTQ rights, supporting full nationwide bans on abortion access, the teaching of LGBTQ topics in schools, and same-gender marriages.

Supporting Trump’s Election Fraud Claims

In early January 2021, Johnson was one of 147 Republicans to vote to overturn the results of the November 2020 election, in line with claims by then-US President Donald Trump that the election was fraudulent. Trump lost the election to Joe Biden and launched an effort to build support for canceling the election results, culminating in the failed insurrection of January 6, 2021, by Trump’s supporters at the US Capitol.

Johnson also signed an amicus brief filed by Texas in December 2020 aimed at bringing Trump’s election fraud case to the US Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case, saying one state couldn’t challenge another state’s election results. Johnson boasted that Trump personally expressed “his great appreciation” for the effort, asking him to press every Republican lawmaker to do the same.

Following news of Johnson's gavel win, Biden issued a statement noting that he looked forward to working alongside the new speaker "in good faith on behalf of the American people," underscoring that "there should be mutual effort to find common ground wherever we can."

Asked whether he was concerned about working with Johnson in light of his 2020 election beliefs, Biden told reporters during his joint Wednesday presser with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that he wasn't concerned about a repeat effort taking place in 2024.

"Because he can't ... Just like I was not worried that the last guy would be able to overturn the election,” Biden said. “They had about 60 lawsuits that went all the way to the Supreme Court, and every time they lost. I understand the Constitution.”

Johnson has not touched the election subject since he was elected to serve as speaker-designate late Tuesday, opting to brush off reporters' questions.