WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — In a closed-door conference meeting Tuesday evening, House Republicans nominated Vice Chairman Mike Johnson, R-La., as their next speaker nominee, just hours after Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota was picked but dropped out of the race.
“Mike! Mike! Mike!” lawmakers chanted at a news conference afterward, surrounding Johnson and posing for selfies in a show of support.
When the House convenes at noon Wednesday ahead of a floor vote, Johnson will need almost all Republicans in the public roll call to win the gavel.
But who is the man behind the fourth House speaker nomination?
The 51-year-old Louisiana attorney was elected to Congress in December 2016 and represents Louisiana’s fourth district. But before being elected to Congress, Johnson served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 2015 to 2017. He was elected twice without opposition.
While in the Louisiana House, he was appointed vice chairman of the state House Judiciary Committee and the Select Committee on Leadership.
A devoted evangelical Christian, he proposed a controversial bill in 2015, named the Marriage and Conscience Act, that some saw as discriminatory to the LGBTQ community, according to The Shreveport Times.
During his time in Congress, Johnson has served as a member of the House Judiciary and Armed Services committees, as well as the chairman of the subcommittee on Constitution and Limited Government.
He was involved in the GOP’s 2018 efforts to overhaul the Endangered Species Act (ESA), introducing legislation to do so.
“We cannot allow the fear of challenging the status quo to prevent us from taking a hard look at the ineffective policies put in place decades ago that have failed to meet the goals of the underlying statute,” Johnson said at the time.
In 2020, Johnson signed an amicus brief alongside over 100 House Republicans supporting a Texas lawsuit that aimed to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
He played a pivotal role in formulating the Republican objections to certifying President Joe Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021, with many congressional Republicans embracing his arguments.
Johnson is also a member of many caucuses, including the Congressional Prayer Caucus, the Western Caucus and the Border Caucus, among others.
Johnson was elected vice chairman of the Republican Conference first in 2021, and again in 2022.
In an important vote attempting to codify the federal protection of same-sex marriage in July 2022, Johnson noted that his fellow GOP lawmakers had space to choose how they wanted to vote — claiming the Whip team had communicated to them that the vote was a “matter of personal conscience.”
The results marked a noticeable shift in how Republicans have changed their views on LGBTQ matters in recent years, with 47 Republicans voting in favor of the bill.
Despite his colleagues’ changing views, Johnson introduced a bill a few months later trying to bar federal funds from their use in the development and hosting of events that included “sexually-oriented material” — such as drag queen story hours — for young children.
As a staunch supporter of Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, Johnson only contemplated launching his own campaign for the position of speaker after Jordan’s initial attempts fell short.
Three weeks on, the Republicans have been frittering away their majority status — a maddening embarrassment to some, democracy in action to others, but not at all how the House typically functions.
Anxious and exhausted, Republican lawmakers are desperately trying to move on.
Elevating Johnson to speaker would give Louisianans two high-ranking GOP leaders, putting him above Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who was rejected by hardliners in his own bid as speaker.
But hardliners swiftly resisted Johnson’s bid and a new list of candidates emerged. Among them was Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, a Trump ally who ran third on the Tuesday morning ballot, and a few others.
In the end, Johnson won 128 votes on the evening ballot, more than any other candidate. McCarthy, who was not on the ballot, won a surprising 43 votes.
Even former President Donald Trump threw his support behind Johnson’s nomination, posting on his social media platform Truth Social.
“Congratulations to Congressional Republicans! Yesterday was a big and very important day,” Trump wrote. “I am not going to make an endorsement in this race, because I COULD NEVER GO AGAINST ANY OF THESE FINE AND VERY TALENTED MEN… My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson, & GET IT DONE, FAST!”
The House will convene Wednesday at noon for another attempt at electing a new House speaker.
The Hill’s Tara Suter contributed to this report.
