History is made as Congressman Mike Johnson from Benton is the first Speaker of the House from Louisiana. Johnson, who announced his candidacy on Saturday, received 220 votes, three more than he needed. It happened fast for Johnson, who became the favorite to lead the House after Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer removed himself from consideration on Tuesday.
“I want to thank my dedicated wife of almost 25 years Kelly, she’s not here, we couldn’t get a flight in time, this happened sort of suddenly,” said Johnson shortly after being handed the gavel.
Johnson’s election to Speaker of the House ends a chaotic three-week period for the lower chamber that was without a leader.
“We want our allies around the world to know this body of lawmakers is reporting again to our duty stations, let the enemies of freedom around the world here us loud and clear, the people’s house is back in business,” said Johnson.
Johnson laid out some of his priorities during his introductory address as the 56th Speaker of the U.S. House. He says it’s time to rein in spending to reduce inflation, more needs to be done to protect the southern border and the U.S. needs to provide support to Israel.
“We stand at a a very dangerous time, the world is in turmoil, but a strong America is good for the entire world,” said Johnson.
Johnson is a native of Shreveport. He has two-degrees from LSU and is in his fourth term as a U-S Representative, representing northwest Louisiana and a large chunk of western Louisiana.
Comments