Who Is Mike Johnson, the New US House Speaker?
Johnson is a constitutional lawyer who began his career as a college professor before going on to become a conservative media pundit.
After serving for two years in Louisiana’s state legislature, he was elected to the House of Representatives in 2017, the year Donald Trump was sworn in as president.
Throughout his congressional career, Johnson, who has served as vice chairman of the House Republican Conference and deputy whip for his party, has made a name for himself as one of Trump’s most loyal supporters.
In the run-up to January 6, 2021, the day the Capitol was ransacked by an armed mob of election deniers, Johnson fueled unfounded conspiracy theories alleging a rigged election.
He joined other hard-right lawmakers in voting against certifying the results of the 2020 election.
Trump endorsed Johnson for speaker in a recent post on X, writing, “In 2024, we will have an even bigger, & more important, WIN! My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson, & GET IT DONE, FAST!”
Representative Kevin Hern of Oklahoma dropped out of the race for speaker on Tuesday evening and offered his support to Johnson.
“I want everyone to know this race has gotten to the point where it’s gotten crazy,” he said. “This is more about people right now than it should be. This should be about America and America’s greatness. For that, I stepped aside and threw all my support behind Mike Johnson. I think he’d make a great speaker.”
Johnson announced his bid in a post on X. He said that he had not considered running until several colleagues encouraged him to.
In Johnson, the hard-right lawmakers who ousted Representative Kevin McCarthy of California have their compromise after Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise's bids failed — and the rest of the House has a leader, ending weeks of deadlock.