One year ago, the House of Representatives was freed from a three-week period of internal turmoil when Republicans voted for Mike Johnson to be Speaker of the House.
At the time, the leftist media raged and clutched their pearls at the idea that a true conservative would rise to the second-most important job in Washington. The progressive media threw everything at Speaker Johnson hoping something would stick. They called him "hard-right," attacked the American flags he had outside his office, and mocked his religious beliefs. Democratic strategist James Carville even made the ludicrous claim that Johnson’s Christian faith was more dangerous to America than Al Qaeda.
As former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal wrote at the time, "It is only shocking to liberals that Republicans elected a speaker who shares many of the views held by their voters," because in Washington, "many elected officials promptly forget their voters and campaign promises five minutes after the polls close."
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Today, a year after the left exploded with hysteria and hatred for Speaker Johnson – and the media started its continuous drumbeat of merciless false attacks--House Republicans should recognize the strength, resolve, leadership, and political acumen of Speaker Johnson.
After being sworn in, Speaker Johnson indicated that he sought to preserve, and govern according to, his "seven core principles of American conservatism." Those included individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, and human dignity. Speaker Johnson has exceeded expectations on all seven of these fronts and built out a strong leadership team despite having one of the slimmest majorities in Congressional history.
He fought for individual freedom and human dignity, as he led the House to address the antisemitic college campus protests and stood on the steps of Columbia University and pressured its president to resign for her tolerance of disorder and anti-Jewish hate. He stood for our values again when he led the House to override the Department of Education’s ridiculous rewrite of Title IX that allowed biological men to compete in women’s sports.
Speaker Johnson limited the scope of government and showed his belief in fiscal responsibility when he inherited the FY24 appropriations mess. He forced Democrats to strip $20 billion from President Joe Biden’s IRS expansion, $6 billion from Biden’s unused COVID-era slush fund, and break the gross practice of government funding by omnibus.
For the sake of the rule of law, Speaker Johnson led the House to impeach Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for his refusal to enforce border security laws and for ignoring lawful congressional subpoenas. Speaker Johnson secured funding for 22,000 border patrol agents, the highest level ever funded – and the same number that were authorized in Republicans signature border legislation, H.R. 2. He took up commonsense legislation to protect our country from criminal aliens and exposed Democrats’ radical record when the House voted to deport illegal aliens who steal, assault cops, and abuse women. He could have gone even further, but in September, 14 Republicans aligned with Democrats against Donald Trump to tank legislation that would have forced Sen. Chuck Schumer’s hand and required proof of citizenship for voters so that only American citizens could vote in American elections.
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In the name of free markets and fair trade, Speaker Johnson has done more than any other Speaker to confront Communist China’s exploitation of the American economy and unfair trade deals. President Ronald Reagan once said that "free trade is, by definition, fair trade". No one is more committed to secure actual free trade for America’s markets and reversing Congress’ long-time tolerance for Beijing’s rule-breaking than Speaker Johnson.
And for the sake of America’s global leadership, Speaker Johnson secured much-needed supplemental assistance for Israel – and the toughest sanctions package on Iran in nearly a decade. He forced Democrats to impose sanctions on Russia and China when Senate leadership chose to throw money at the problem. He out-maneuvered Sen. Schumer and brought Benajmin Netanyahu to the Capitol for a joint address. He even successfully publicly shamed Canada into committing to meet its NATO spending obligations. It’s no surprise that the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board labeled him "The Leader of the Free World."
Of course, no Speaker is perfect, and Speaker Johnson would be the first to own up to his limitations. But as a former Speaker of the House, I assure you that all the critics who want Speaker Johnson to "hold the line" or "be tougher" with Democrats have never been in House leadership. They have no grasp of how complicated the Speakership truly is. As a warning to those who are less religious and who poke fun at Speaker Johnson for his faith, remember that his devotion makes it almost impossible to intimidate him.
The 2024 election less than two weeks away. As voters wonder how a Republican-led Congress would govern, conservatives know what they’re getting with Speaker Johnson. He’s a bold, principled, thoughtful leader and legislator. He’s cut from the same cloth as President Reagan.
Speaker Johnson stands ready to work with President Trump to secure the border, tear up the administrative state, lower taxes, cut spending, and protect traditional American values. He’s a man who’s answered the call of leadership in the face of the toughest circumstances but has proven himself to be an original lawmaker and faithful patriot.
Simply put, Speaker Johnson deserves to be re-elected.
