Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson elected House speaker: Highlights

Republicans’ three-week speaker saga is finally over, with House members electing Johnson as the 56th speaker of the House today.

But along the way, GOP presidential candidates didn’t mince their words when they were asked about the self-inflicted chaos on Capitol Hill.

“Let us pray for the House,” Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said in jest at a town hall in Indianola, Iowa, yesterday when he was asked about the speaker drama.

“Please stop embarrassing the party, in Jesus’ name, amen,” Scott added to a laughing crowd.

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Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., said averting a government shutdown will "be an issue" for Johnson in his role as speaker.

Johnson was just asked if he supports more aid to Ukraine. “We all do. ... We are going to have conditions on that so we’re working through."

"We want accountability and we want objectives that are clear from the White House. But we’re going to have those discussions. It will be very productive," he said.

Johnson hosts a podcast with his wife called “Truth be Told with Mike & Kelly Johnson.” Its introduction includes words of praise from former President Donald Trump calling him “a great guy.”

In one of the episodes, he says the podcast’s main purpose is to “offer a biblical perspective on the big cultural, social and political issues that are in the headlines each and every week … and how to respond in a way that we believe the lord would have us respond.”

The podcast, posted before Johnson thrust himself into the national limelight by pursuing and winning the House speaker’s gavel, offers a glimpse into how culture-war issues animate the Louisiana Republican, including his opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights.

In one episode, Johnson tells listeners they are living in “a brave new world” with “open, brazen depravity with levels that we’ve never seen and real threats, really, to everything that the Bible says is true and right and good.”

Johnson says he believes that LGBTQ movements have an agenda that is “pointed at, and focused on children.” He has also zeroed in on the Disney show “Little Demon” and Disney’s overall approach to LGBTQ topics.

The president of the pro-LGBTQ group Human Rights Campaign, Kelley Robinson, called Johnson “the most anti-equality Speaker in U.S. history” and an “anti-LGBTQ+ extremist.”

“Johnson is someone who doesn’t hesitate to express his disdain for the LGTBQ+ community from the rooftops and then introduces legislation that seeks to erase us from society,” Robinson said in a statement.

On abortion, Johnson says he introduced a bill to push back against attacks on pro-life institutions and churches or faith-based organizations. Its goal is to punish those who vandalize and burden pro-life institutions which “seek to help women and their babies,” he said.

Johnson was born to teen parents in 1973, a year before the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. “Everyone deserves a birthday,” he says on the podcast. “My parents knew that I was created by God and I deserved to be born and loved.”

“In post-Roe America now we have to work harder than ever to ensure that all babies are given the same chance and that the life of every unborn child is sacred,” he also says.

Rep. Mike Johnson was first elected in 2017. He has now been in Congress for six years, fewer than any speaker in recent history.

Dozens of House Republicans — but not former Speaker McCarthy — joined newly elected Speaker Johnson on the east front steps of Capitol Hill to give brief celebratory remarks after the vote.

The Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.; Whip Tom Emmer, R-Ind.; and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., praised Johnson and tried to put a positive spin on the lengthy gap without a speaker.

“These last few weeks probably look like total chaos, confusion, no end in sight. But from my perspective, this is one of the greatest experiences and risks of recent history,” Emmer said.

Johnson spoke briefly and promised to deliver for the American people and then ignored questions from the media.

With Johnson’s job as vice chair of the Republican conference open, Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., is considering running for the leadership spot and has been having conversations with colleagues, her spokesperson said.

President Joe Biden called Johnson this afternoon to congratulate him on winning the speaker's race, the White House said.

According to the White House, Biden told Johnson that he "looks forward to working together to find common ground on behalf of the American people."

Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, expressed concern in a statement that the new speaker will try to push for a federal abortion ban.

“Mike Johnson has a long and disastrous record of attacking abortion rights and the full suite of sexual and reproductive health care services. House Republicans, including those claiming to be moderates, know exactly what they are doing by electing him as speaker: they are fully embracing extremism and a plan to ban abortion nationwide," she said.

"We need them to do the job they were sent to Congress to do: govern and fund the government, including sexual and reproductive health care programs," she continued. "Instead, they’ve chosen another out-of-touch and dangerous politician to lead their chaotic and dysfunctional crusade to take away our rights. Our communities deserve better."

Johnson has previously supported the idea of a national abortion ban, though it would not get through a Democratic Senate and White House.