He’s just been more quiet about it than the showboaters
The Republicans finally found a Speaker:
Mike Johnson, 51, has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2016, and is currently serving his fourth term in the House.
He represents Louisiana’s fourth congressional district, which includes nearly 760,000 residents. Johnson won the seat with the largest margin of victory in his region in more than 50 years, according to a biography on his website.
Of note: After earning both a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from Louisiana State University, Johnson spent nearly 20 years practicing constitutional law.
Johnson then served in the Louisiana Legislature from February 2015 to January 2017.
He and his wife, Kelly Johnson, have been married since 1999 and have four children.
Where does he fit into the GOP landscape?
Johnson was unanimously re-elected as as vice chair of the House Republican Conference for a second time last year.
He also serves as a deputy whip for the 118th Congress, and currently sits on the House Judiciary Committee and on the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
What he’s saying: In a letter to colleagues over the weekend, Johnson said it’s the duty of House Republicans to “chart a new path” and that he has a “clear vision and plan for how to lead.”
He added that until colleagues reached out to encourage him to seek the nomination, “I had never contacted one person about this, and I have never before aspired to the office.”
Between the lines: A well-liked member of leadership, Johnson is widely viewed as a policy-oriented and principled conservative — if not a bit milquetoast, Axios’ Zachary Basu and Juliegrace Brufke report.
Among the eight Republicans who made a pitch for the position, Johnson (R-La.) has seen the greatest share of his sponsored bills become law — 6.5%.
A social conservative, Johnson is a vocal opponent of gay marriage and a supporter of bans on abortion. He typically votes in line with his Republican colleagues and has a 92% rating from the American Conservative Union and 90% from Heritage Action, per NBC News.
Johnson is known to be a Trump ally and was a staunch defender of the former president during the impeachment hearings.
The Louisiana Republican led the amicus brief signed by more than 100 House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 election results in four swing states.
The team of former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a driving force of the House Jan. 6 committee and an outspoken Trump critic, released old videos highlighting Johnson’s involvement, as well as a quote in the New York Times that called him “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections,” NBC reports.
He seems awfully nice, don’t you think?