Earlier this month, the United States House of Representatives was thrown into confusion when the 55th Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, was voted out. Since this had never happened in the U.S. before, nobody was sure what to do, but representatives knew that a new speaker had to be elected as soon as possible. Mike Johnson, a representative from Louisiana’s fourth district, has now been elected as the new Speaker of the House.
After Republican Representatives failed to elect three other Republican nominees, Johnson was welcomed by each one. He was heavily supported by many of the far-right Republicans, as his views substantially aligned with theirs. While many people have voiced their support for Johnson, some have been less than enthusiastic. Many politicians have expressed disappointment in Johnson’s election under the postulation that someone with such radical beliefs should not be welcomed into the highest seat of the House.
Johnson has been very open about his beliefs and opinions since he first became a politician. He is known to be an extreme anti-choice supporter, even posting on X in January this year, “Louisiana is now a proudly pro-life state — we will get the number of abortions to ZERO!!” Johnson also sponsored a national version of the infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would have banned education on gender identity and sexual orientation.
However, many of his opinions are outdated. In a forum hosted in 2013 by Louisiana Right to Life — an anti-abortion group — Johnson quotes the founding fathers, saying, “They told us that if we didn’t maintain those 18th-century values, that the republic would not stand, and this is the condition we find ourselves in today.” He also spoke at the forum about the U.S. being built primarily on biblical principles and calling on Americans to bring that system of thinking back despite the First Amendment requiring a separation of church and state.
In Johnson’s first statement as Speaker of the House, he says that as Speaker, he “will advance a comprehensive conservative policy agenda [and] combat the harmful policies of the Biden Administration.” Essentially, he is going to push his radical right agenda as far as possible, even if that means having dreadful relationships with his Democratic counterparts.
The American government is heavily based on working in conjunction with all members of Congress, no matter their political identification, to work toward the best outcome for the general American people. However, instead of working together to provide this, Johnson and many of his far-right conservative supporters within Congress would rather work for their idealism despite the abhorrent condition it would likely put the House in.
