PRESS RELEASE Contact: press@congressionalintegrity.org
For Immediate Release
Date: October 26, 2023
It’s no secret: Johnson is extreme on abortion and LGBTQ rights, led efforts to overturn the 2020 election, denied the results of the 2020 election, and wants to cut Social Security and Medicare
Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, MAGA Republicans voted to elect election denier and MAGA Republican extremist Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House, including Rep. Don Bacon.
In response, Congressional Integrity Project executive director, Kyle Herrig, issued the following statement:
“This is who you voted for, Don Bacon: MAGA Mike Johnson. Before you voted, you knew he was a MAGA extremist and a Trump loyalist who was a lead architect in the plot to overthrow the election, and you picked him anyway. You knew his record on rolling back access to abortion, his archaic and homophobic views on gay marriage, and his plans to cut Social Security and Medicare. Mike Johnson will use the gavel to subvert our democracy, attempt to restore Trump to power, and pursue the MAGA Republican agenda that throws the American people under the bus. You are responsible for Johnson’s rise to power, Congressman Bacon.”
JOHNSON ON JANUARY 6TH
- Mike Johnson Led The Legal Effort In The House To Overturn the 2020 Election. The day after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the election, Johnson said he called Donald Trump and told him: “‘Stay strong and keep fighting, sir! The nation is depending upon your resolve. We must exhaust every available legal remedy to restore Americans’ trust in the fairness of our election system.’” Johnson quickly became “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections” in the House, pressuring his colleagues to support the Texas lawsuit that sought to overturn the election on the unconstitutional premise that the expansion of vote by mail during the pandemic was illegal. Johnson boasted on Twitter of Trump’s approval of his efforts, calling the Texas suit “the big one” that would enable Trump to remain in office.
- Mike Johnson Urged Trump Supporters To “Fight!” On The Morning Of January 6, 2021. On the morning of January 6th, Johnson tweeted “We MUST fight for election integrity, the Constitution, and the preservation of our republic!” Later that day, Johnson voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
JOHNSON ON IMPEACHMENT
- Mike Johnson Supports Impeaching President Biden And Has Close Ties To Oversight Chair James Comer. Johnson has been working to impeach President Biden and expressed support for Kevin McCarthy’s move to unilaterally launch an impeachment inquiry into President Biden without a House vote. Johnson also holds close ties with Oversight Chair James Comer, who has been leading the impeachment inquiry. Johnson invited Comer to appear on his own podcast at the end of August, where he called Comer, “one of my good friends for the past seven years” and a “super talented guy.”
JOHNSON ON TRUMP
- Mike Johnson Is One Of Trump’s Top Defenders. Johnson has been described as “a trusted member of Trump’s inner circle” and as “one of President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters in the House of Representatives.” Johnson frequently traveled with Trump on Air Force One during his term and proudly served on the defense team for both of Trump’s impeachment trials in the Senate. During Trump’s first impeachment, Johnson made nearly 50 TV appearances to defend the president. Although he has not formally endorsed Trump for 2024, Johnson continues to aggressively defend the former president despite his legal woes, attacking Democrats after January 6 for focusing on investigating the attack, referring to it as a “third impeachment” and accusing Joe Biden of “weaponizing” the Department of Justice to indict Trump.
JOHNSON ON ABORTION
- Mike Johnson Has Co-Sponsored At Least Three Federal Abortion Bans & A Ban On Medication Abortions. In just a short period, Johnson – who has an A+ rating from the anti-choice group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America – has sponsored numerous anti-choice efforts to ban abortion nationwide. In January 2021, he co-sponsored a bill to ban medication abortions up to 70 days into gestation and bar future FDA authorization of abortion medications. In February 2021, he co-sponsored a federal “heartbeat” bill banning abortion after six weeks post-fertilization and just two weeks later co-sponsored a separate bill banning abortion nationwide after 20 weeks post-fertilization. In July 2021, he co-sponsored yet another 20-week federal abortion ban. [HR 554, 1/28/21; HR 705, 2/2/21; HR 1080, 2/15/21; HR 8814, 9/13/22]
- Mike Johnson Has Long Opposed Abortion Protections & Cosigned Efforts to Overturn Roe v. Wade. Johnson has long been an opponent of Roe v. Wade’s abortion protections, and once argued that if women were forced to give birth to more ‘able-bodied workers,’ House Republicans would not cut Social Security or Medicare. He even co-signed an amicus brief in the case overturning Roe v. Wade. [Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Congressional Amicus Brief, 7/29/21]
- Mike Johnson Is So Anti-Choice That He Supports Codifying Fetal Personhood “At Conception” In Federal Law. “‘Life begins at conception,’ Representative Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said in proposing the Unborn Child Support Act in Congress this month, ‘and this bill is a straightforward first step towards updating our federal laws to reflect that fact.’” [New York Times, 8/21/22]
- Mike Johnson Serves on The Hardline MAGA Republican Study Committee, Which Supports Defunding Health Insurance Plans Covering Abortion Services. Johnson currently serves on the hard-right Republican Study Committee (RSC), which recently proposed a national abortion ban. In June, the RSC released a memo calling for a vote on legislation imposing new restrictions on abortion access, proposing a permanent ban on federal funding for abortions and revoking federal funding for health insurance plans that cover elective abortion services.
- Before Joining Congress, Mike Johnson Worked To Shut Down Abortion Clinics. During his time at an extreme anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ organization known as the Alliance Defending Freedom, Johnson worked to shut down abortion clinics in his home state of Louisiana. In 2010, he was involved in proceedings against one of Louisiana’s largest and most active abortion providers.
JOHNSON ON SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE
- Mike Johnson Serves On The Hardline MAGA Republican Study Committee, Which Has Proposed Cuts To Social Security & Medicare. Johnson served as chair of the hardline Republican Study Committee (RSC) from 2019 to 2021 and currently still serves on the committee. The RSC has released a steady stream of radical proposals to slash and privatize Medicare and Social Security. The committee has also been working on new proposals to end Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices, cut food assistance, and cut Medicaid.
JOHNSON ON GAY MARRIAGE
- Mike Johnson Voted Against The Respect For Marriage Act, Which Recognized Gay and Interracial Marriages Under Federal Law. In December 2022, Johnson voted against the Respect For Marriage Act, which guaranteed marriage equality for gay and interracial couples under federal law. The law passed with bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate, and was signed into law by President Biden. [HR 8404, Roll Call Vote #514, 12/8/22]
- Mike Johnson Voted Against The Equality Act. In February 2021, Johnson voted against legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. [HR 5, Roll Call Vote #39, 2/25/21]
- Johnson Worked As Senior Legal Counsel For An Extreme Anti-LGBTQI+ Legal Group. Before joining Congress, Johnson worked as a senior legal counsel for an extreme anti-LGTBQI+ legal group known as the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). During his time at the group, Johnson referred to same-sex couples seeking spousal benefits as “same-sex, live-in lovers,” who are “not about benefits, [but] it’s about having that lifestyle made legitimate.” The ADF has a long record of extreme, anti-LGBTQI+ stances. According to an extensive report by Media Matters, the ADF supports conversion therapy, has compared LGBTQI+ people to pedophiles, said gay people are more likely to engage in child abuse, said that LGBTQI+ people are harmful to children and society, and compared LGBTQI+ people and advocacy groups to Nazis. The group has historically supported the criminalization of gay sex, opposed hate crimes protections for LGBTQI+ people, worked to legalize discrimination against LGBTQI+ people by businesses, health care providers, and employers, and opposed marriage. The ADF also has a history of attacking trans people and denying them legitimacy, supporting policies banning trans people from using restrooms that align with their gender identity, a ban on trans people in the military, and barriers to changing identification documents and names.
- Johnson Wrote Editorials Supporting the Criminalization of Gay Sex While Working At The Extremist Legal Group. While working at ADF, Johnson wrote op-eds calling gay people part of an “inherently unnatural” and “dangerous lifestyle,” demanding the criminalization of gay sex: “In editorials that ran in his local Shreveport, Louisiana, paper, The Times, Johnson called homosexuality a ‘inherently unnatural’ and ‘dangerous lifestyle’ that would lead to legalized pedophilia and possibly even destroy ‘the entire democratic system.’ And, in another editorial, he wrote, ‘Your race, creed, and sex are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do,’ he wrote. ‘This is a free country, but we don’t give special protections for every person’s bizarre choices.’” [CNN, 10/25/23]