By Kelsey Maxwell
On October 25, 2023, after three weeks without a Speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA-04) was sworn in as the 56th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Two nights later, he sat down with Fox News’s Sean Hannity to discuss some of his plans and explain his policymaking philosophy.
Speaker Mike Johnson set his priorities as Speaker from the second he walked up to the podium to give his inaugural speech with the Bible in his hands. An “America-first” Christian conservative, Johnson is the least tenured Speaker in 140 years, and could be the best chance that the Republicans have to show the American people what they are all about. In his warm welcome from the Democratic National Committee, Johnson was painted as a Speaker farther to the political right and more controversial than the last, Rep. Kevin McCarthy. However, he has proven to be anything but. He has produced multiple pieces of bipartisan legislation, and has been able to keep the more extreme wing of his party on their best behavior, something that’s very hard to do.
Since his initial address to the nation, Johnson has been able to stick to his promise of upholding the ideals of American conservatism. He has also upheld his promise to keep his personal beliefs, which some may view as extreme, out of his policymaking. He has been able to get the House back to work and keep the proceedings peaceful. Many people in Republican circles believe that he will be the Speaker that is able to get the GOP where they need to be in order to gain a Senate majority and the White House in 2024, and if the next year goes the way that the last two months have, they could be right.