WASHINGTON—Mike Johnson doesn’t even try to put his phone down anymore.
about three years later Took over as Speaker of the HouseThe work of Louisiana Republicans is more pressing than ever. The self-described “wartime speaker” is working to advance the GOP agenda with only a narrow majority while managing unruly allies — and taking calls from President Trump at all hours of the night — as he looks to rally Republicans to a history-defying victory in this fall’s midterm elections.
“I’m like a triage surgeon in an active battlefield,” he said in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal. “All day long I just go from one crisis to another, bleeding from the wounds.”
The 54-year-old speaker, who often struggles with reference to his Christian faith, says he wants to remain in the job if Republicans remain in the majority and thinks any potential challenge is unlikely to succeed. When asked if he would like to remain party leader if the GOP loses, he declined.
“I love people, I love solving problems,” he said. “I like taking complex things and simplifying them or trying to do that. I like the idea of facing a challenge.” Also, “It is very hard work. It requires complete dedication and sacrifice.”
Trump will often call late. “‘Mickey, are you sleeping?’ Johnson said, mimicking the president’s voice during an interview with the Journal at a congressional baseball game last month. “No, not really,” Johnson responded. “‘Yes, you are, Mike. I can always tell when you’re sleeping.’ “
“‘I’m up now. What did you get? What’s going on?’ “
Over several days last month, the Journal got a look at one of the country’s most politically difficult and exhausting jobs. Johnson’s working life is filled with meetings, barrages of questions from journalists, TV hits, fundraisers and party events. Blocking his schedule are fights over the latest failed vote or intraparty blowups that have become a staple of the Republican-run House, conflicts that often prompt Trump to intervene.
The Journal interviews took place in the back hallways of Nationals Park — where he gave a speech at a Republican baseball team rally — on a motorcycle ride from the Capitol to a conservative women’s event and on a morning at the Capitol as the speaker tried to calm his members during the weekly GOP convention.
14 minutes family time
Johnson estimates that on a recent Monday night when he returned to his home in Washington’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, he spent about 14 minutes of family time — what he called a “typical day” for him. By 11 p.m., he was back on the phone trying to put out the fire during the House Rules Committee hearing. At 6:30 in the morning his phone started ringing again. Johnson is usually back at the Capitol by 8 a.m. and his staff’s first question is: Coffee or (energy drink) Celsius?
Johnson admits he can’t afford all this. He flashed his phone screen, which showed 1,477 unread text messages and 829 unheard voicemails. He says he received major life news late, including the death of friends or loved ones. Johnson says he is constantly apologizing to those he did not respond to immediately: “I’m sorry I didn’t see your last six text messages. I just happened to see this one. I love you.”
His day is divided into roughly 15- or 30-minute chunks, with some parts longer such as party meetings, a series of votes or a sit-down with Trump. He has done so only twice in the past two years when he tried to isolate and relax in the evenings with his wife, daughters who work in Washington and youngest child after returning home from the Capitol. He learned his lesson.
“When I picked the phone back up, it was a bonfire that needed to be put out quickly,” he said.
The latest confrontation on Capitol Hill focuses on the stalled Save America Act, which mandates strict voting rules. Trump canceled the signing ceremony for an unrelated bipartisan housing bill at the last minute, saying the ballot bill needed to be passed first. This came too late for Johnson, who was on stage talking about the housing measure. Democrats said the outburst was the latest sign of Republican dysfunction.
“I talk to the president every day and we will talk about this again,” the speaker told reporters. “I’m encouraging them to sign it, but it’s going to become law one way or another.” measure becomes law Last weekend without Trump’s signature.
A ‘false story’ about Trump
Johnson is a constitutional lawyer by profession, who was first elected to the House in 2016. She won the speakership after a group of GOP dissidents ousted former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) and blocked or rejected a group of other candidates. He has maintained his hold on power through close ties to the President, regularly attending events with him, such as a recent UFC fight outside the White House.
GOP leaders often turn to Trump for help winning over recalcitrant members in fights ranging from surveillance powers to spending bills. Johnson said that Trump has joked many times that the President is the speaker of the House. But Johnson said it was just a joke.
“This is a false narrative that President Trump is somehow helping run the House,” Johnson said. “This is a partnership.”
The Republicans’ narrow margin, which includes one independent—currently 219 to 212—means Johnson needs all the help he can get. “We don’t have party discipline like we did in the old way,” Johnson said. “They would whip people around and take things away from them and punish them. We can’t do that to get every single person.”
When Republicans, led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R., Florida), held the House hostage by blocking a procedural “rules” vote beginning last month, Johnson visited the White House. But the standoff centered on the Save America Act continued — despite Trump urging Republicans to stop obstruction — and House GOP leadership sent lawmakers home early for the Fourth of July recess. The hold was lifted on Tuesday, and Johnson is now moving forward with an uphill battle to pass tens of billions of dollars in new military funding.
When he assumed responsibility, Johnson immediately tried to strengthen his position with the House Freedom Caucus – home to many of the members who voted to oust McCarthy.
“I don’t come to you, I come from you,” he told the Conservative caucus. He recalled him saying, “I wake up with the exact same thing on my mind that you have on my mind.”
Recently, Senator Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.), a Baptist pastor, questioned the speaker’s faith after Johnson said he had prayed about passage of the president’s “One Big Beautiful” tax legislation. Johnson, who has expressed discomfort with direct attacks against people of all political persuasions, says his first inclination was to challenge Warnock to a national religious debate, but his staff talked him out of it by having a one-on-one meeting with the senator.
Johnson said the two had an “enjoyable” debate based on each person’s biblical understanding of the role of the individual versus the role of government in helping the poor.
Warnock said he and Johnson “shared an honest and frank conversation about our faith.” He criticized Republican moves to cut spending on health care and nutrition benefits, which he said conflicted with Biblical teachings.
Johnson may still have a few months left in the job. Polls show congressional Republicans are in trouble due to Trump’s declining popularity and concerns about the economy. Historically, the president’s party almost always loses House seats in midterms.
“Republicans have nothing to run on,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Wyatt Shelton, pointing to concerns about health care, gas and other costs.
Johnson says he tries to hold at least two fundraisers each week. He sometimes schedules at the same restaurant twice so he can talk to one room, eat off one corner of his plate, walk to the other side of a divided room and talk to the next group, and eat a little more. Sometimes this number increases to four.
As the midterms approach, Johnson knows that if Republicans maintain their majority, it will be only the second time in 90 years that the president’s party has accomplished this feat.
However, he sees an opening The rise of democratic socialists Who are capturing the Democratic primaries. He says this will give voters a new reason to support Republicans – because they see the difference between “common sense and insanity” – and will keep them in charge.
Write to Olivia Beavers here olivia.beevers@wsj.com
