WASHINGTON — It was a historic moment from Louisiana and Congressman Mike Johnson.
Wednesday, the Republican lawmaker from the Shreveport area became the first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from the Bayou State.
Johnson won the gavel by a 220-to-209 vote.
He was the fourth nominee for the job.
“I thank the people of Louisiana for the opportunity to serve you in Congress and I’m humbled by your continuous support,” Johnson said. “We will make you proud.”
Johnson is in the middle of his fourth term.
He is a staunch conservative with deep Christian beliefs.
He voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election and legalizing same sex marriage.
Until now, Johnson had a relatively low profile in the House, serving as the Vice-Chair of the Republican Conference.
He promised to seek common ground across the aisle and work to restore trust, transparency, and accountability to the chamber.
“My office is going to be known for members being more involved and having more influence on our processes and all the major decisions are made here for predictable processes and regular order. We owe that to the people.
With Johnson as speaker, Louisiana now has two high-ranking GOP leaders.
Congressman Steve Scalise remains majority leader, the number two position in the House.
“I’m really proud for Mike Johnson to be elected speaker,” Scalise told WWL-TV. “We needed to get this resolved.”
Scalise says he’s known Johnson for about 20 years when they served together in the Louisiana legislature.
“Number one, he’s a really dedicated, passionate, hard worker. I think that’s what my colleagues see in Mike, somebody who really has strong convictions, wants to get things done, wants to help fix this broken institution.”
After three weeks without a house speaker Johnson said his first orders of business will be to express support for Israel, rein in federal spending and bring down inflation.
“I look forward to the days ahead,” Johnson said. “I genuinely believe in my heart that the best days of America are still ahead of us. God bless you and God bless the United States of America. Thank you.”
With that, Johnson declared, "The People’s House is back in business."
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.