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WHAT WE’VE LEARNED ABOUT SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent

A week ago, Mike Johnson was a Louisiana congressman in his fourth term and a subcommittee chairman.

Now he is second in line to the presidency as speaker of the House. This is Johnson’s first Tuesday on the job.  
 
Setting aside the extraordinary month that led to this moment, let’s look at what we’ve learned about the new speaker in the past week.
 
Johnson aims to move quickly
 
Last Wednesday afternoon, just before 2 p.m. Eastern, Johnson became speaker.  
 
Addressing the House immediately after taking the oath of office, Johnson laid out his first two concrete agenda items:
  1. To pass a resolution supporting Israel
  2. To create a bipartisan commission on the national debt

An hour later, Johnson was on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, giving another set of remarks, with his Republican conference behind him. In those, he said, “We’re going to dispense with the ceremonies and celebrations that traditionally follow a new speakership because we have no time for either one.”
 
Indeed, Johnson has now just more than two weeks to thread the same needle that pushed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy out of office: funding the government while not incurring the ire of fiscal conservatives who want budget cuts in exchange for any spending bill, including a temporary one.
 
Among the highlights from his first few days:
 
He’s done all of this with a small team, which is scrambling to add more staffers (as Punchbowl News reported). 
 
Setting the tone
Photo by CNP/startraksphoto.com
Johnson is not the kind of microphone man who is eager to take on reporters or aim snappy messages and zingers at Democrats. That was Speaker McCarthy.
 
Instead, Johnson is striking a softer tone so far.
  • It is early, but Johnson — who can be sharp while questioning in committee — is not yet lobbing direct attacks at Democrats. 
  • He indicated to a Fox News host that he sees Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries as “a man with a good heart,” one with whom he can work.
  • In the same interview, he said he intends to have a “direct and thoughtful” conversation with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Israel aid.
  • With House Republicans, he has aimed to lay out a clear set of goals and stressed the idea that he does not plan to strike side bargains. (Though that could be tested quickly! See below.)

Johnson is not the first congressional leader to start out with a bipartisan tone. It is common. But his specific complimenting of Democrats and his less strident tone is unusual. 
 
As progressive Democrat Rep. Al Green of Texas told me, his party is waiting to see what Johnson does before judging. But they know his record is far from theirs, and Democrats are preparing for major battles ahead, including the potential of Speaker Johnson as an issue in the 2024 campaign.
 
First, though, other Republicans have a problem. 
 
A possible battle with Senate Republicans
 
Johnson’s first tests are coming, starting with a disagreement with his counterpart, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. 
 
McConnell has put his full political weight behind a $105 billion emergency funding package that combines support for Israel, Ukraine and the U.S. border.
 
But Johnson is moving the House forward on another version, which contains $14 billion in aid only for Israel. Johnson, and many other House Republicans, want separate votes on the aid packages because they have questions about — or oppose — the Ukraine aid.
 
Senate Republicans are more divided, we know from talking with them, but the larger group right now supports Ukraine funding moving along with the Israel aid. That’s where Democrats are as well. 
 
The goal is for this to be resolved in the next three weeks. Not a lot of time. And a potentially revealing test of how the new speaker navigates his own party.
 
Johnson is the most conservative speaker in the modern age
 
Hovering over all of this is Johnson’s record. This is why many Republicans cheer him and many Democrats see him as dangerous: By some measures, he is poised to be the most conservative speaker of the House in the modern age.
  • Abortion. Last week, Johnson said, “There’s no national consensus among the people on what to do with that issue on a federal level for certain.” But in the past two years, he has pushed for national restrictions. That includes his role as an original co-sponsor of a national abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy. He was among 123 cosponsors for a bill that would ban abortions nationally as early as five weeks of pregnancy.  
  • LGBTQ+ issues. In the early 2000s, Johnson wrote op-eds opposing same-sex marriage and the Supreme Court’s overturning of anti-sodomy laws, including this one in 2003. On transgender rights, Johnson has opposed gender-affirming care for children, and he and his wife have been scheduled to speak at an April conference, which refers to their framing of a “cultural war on women.” 
  • Guns. Johnson is an ally of the National Rifle Association, which last week tweeted out a previously recorded video of him voicing support for the Second Amendment. He is a staunch defender of gun rights and opponent of gun control. In the wake of modern gun violence, in debate on the House floor, Johnson once said that, “America’s problem is not guns” but instead “heart.” 
  • Spending. The new speaker is a fiscal conservative who last week said, “the greatest threat to our nation’s security is our nation’s debt.” 

Christianity is the core of his beliefs
 
Among the reasons Johnson so quickly earned the trust of his Republican colleagues is that he is known as a man of deep evangelical Christian faith who sees that as the core of his political foundation. (Polls in 2020 showed that white evangelicals vote overwhelmingly Republican. White evangelical Protestants were the single largest group of Republicans by religion, at 30 percent.)
 
This has raised debate online about the role of religion in government.  
 
Johnson, in his speech accepting the speakership, pointed to that faith, saying, “I believe that scripture, the Bible is very clear. That God is the one that raises up those in authority.” Johnson continued: “And I believe that God has ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific time. This is my belief.”
 
In a Fox News interview posted Oct. 31, Johnson responded to accusations he is a fundamentalist, saying, “I’m not trying to establish Christianity as the national religion, that’s not what this is about.”
 
Historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez told Politico last week that she does not use the term “Christian nationalist” in a pejorative way, but that she believes it fits Johnson. “As he understands it, this country was founded as a Christian nation,” Du Mez told the outlet.
 
This is yet another test for Johnson, and the choices he must make, about when and how to make political decisions, as well as the precise role faith has in his message as the highest-ranking elected Republican in the country.
More on politics from our coverage:
  • Watch: We are entering the fourth week of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
  • One Big Question: Israel is now advancing into the Gaza Strip. Is Israel using different tactics in its ground invasion so far? Two military experts weigh in.
  • A Closer Look: Why some Republicans in Oklahoma want to pause executions.
  • Perspectives: The 2024 presidential field is taking shape. Tamara Keith and Amy Walter discuss the latest shake-ups among the GOP presidential contenders.
#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Ali Schmitz, @SchmitzMedia
Politics Producer
 
Mike Johnson is the least experienced speaker in about a century. He was elected to the House in 2016.
 
Our question: Which speaker spent the longest time in office before ascending to the House's highest-ranked position?
 
Send your answers to [email protected] or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.
 
Last week, we asked: How many House speakers in U.S. history have represented Minnesota in Congress?
 
The answer: None. Zero. Zilch. (A spooky trick question from our own Matt Loffman). There has never been a speaker from Minnesota.
 
Congratulations to our winners: Susan Kupsky and Robert Atkins!
 
Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.

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