Age, Biography, and Wiki
Mike Johnson was born on January 30, 1972, making him 53 years old as of January 2025. His biography is marked by significant political achievements, including his role as Speaker of the House since 2023. Johnson is listed on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Johnson.
| Occupation | Republicans |
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| Date of Birth | 30 January 1972 |
| Age | 53 Years |
| Birth Place | Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Aquarius |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
There is limited publicly available information regarding Mike Johnson's height, weight, or other physical measurements.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Johnson is married to Kelly L. Johnson. However, detailed information about their personal life together or any other relationships is not widely available.
Johnson came to some prominence in the late 1990s when he and his wife appeared on television to promote new laws in Louisiana allowing covenant marriages, under which divorce is much more difficult to obtain than in no-fault divorce. In 2005, Johnson appeared on ABC's Good Morning America to promote covenant marriages, saying, "I'm a big proponent of marriage and fidelity and all the things that go with it".
The Johnsons have five children, including an adult son, Michael Tirrell James. Johnson and his wife met James, who is black, at an event for Young Life Ministries, took him in, and assumed legal guardianship when he was 14 years old. James, who maintains a private life with his family, has said "if the Johnsons hadn't taken me in as a teenager, my life would look very different today."
Johnson and his wife have co-hosted the podcast Truth Be Told since March 2022, discussing public affairs and other issues from a Christian perspective. On his podcast, Johnson said that "the Word of God is, of course, the ultimate source of all truth", and attributed the success of the United States to its foundation upon a "religious statement of faith".
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| Husband | Kelly Lary (m. 1999) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, there are varying estimates of Mike Johnson's net worth. Some reports suggest it could be around $1 million when including public service earnings and private sector activities. However, earlier estimates from financial disclosure forms indicated a net worth ranging from -$280,003 to -$600,000. As Speaker of the House, Johnson earns an annual salary of approximately $223,500.
In 2019, Johnson opposed the Raise the Wage Act, which would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, calling it "job-crushing legislation". In 2021, Johnson again opposed the bill.
Career, Business, and Investments
Mike Johnson's career involves significant public service and legal practice. In addition to his role as Speaker of the House, he has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Louisiana's 4th congressional district since 2017. His business ventures include real estate investments and other private sector activities, contributing about $100,000 to $200,000 annually. Johnson's legal background and conservative advocacy have provided opportunities for paid speaking engagements and book deals.
Johnson's political career began when he was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in 2015; he served in that body until 2017. He was first elected to represent Louisiana's 4th congressional district in 2016. During his time in Congress, he contested the results of the 2020 presidential election on the House floor and in court. A social conservative, Johnson supported bills to ban abortion nationwide before saying that in the wake of the Dobbs decision, abortion policy was the purview of the states. Johnson chaired the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus of conservatives in Congress, from 2019 to 2021. He was vice chair of the House Republican Conference from 2021 to 2023.
On October 25, 2023, after Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the position, Johnson was elected to replace him. As speaker, Johnson helped pass a bill meant to provide Ukraine with $60 billion of U.S. military aid. He was narrowly reelected to a full term as speaker in 2025.
Johnson is a graduate of Captain Shreve High School in Shreveport. In 1995, he earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Louisiana State University, becoming a first-generation college graduate. In 1998, Johnson graduated from Louisiana State's Paul M. Hebert Law Center with a Juris Doctor degree.
In April 2015, Johnson proposed the Marriage and Conscience Act. It would have prevented the state from engaging in adverse treatment of any person or entity based upon their beliefs about marriage. Critics denounced the bill as an attempt to protect people who discriminate against same-sex married couples. Governor Bobby Jindal pledged to sign Johnson's bill into law if it passed the legislature, commenting in a New York Times editorial that "musicians, caterers, photographers and others should be immune from government coercion on deeply held religious convictions". IBM and other employers in the region expressed opposition to the bill, including concerns about hiring difficulties it would likely produce. Other politicians also objected, including Republican Baton Rouge Metro Councilman John Delgado, who called Johnson a "despicable bigot of the highest order" for proposing the bill. Johnson replied that he "wished Delgado had taken the time to review his record and career before making 'such hateful, wildly inaccurate statements'".
After Kevin McCarthy was removed from the position of speaker of the House on October 3, 2023, Representative Matt Gaetz floated Johnson's name as a potential replacement. On October 13, Johnson said that he would not run in the upcoming speaker election to succeed McCarthy and endorsed colleague Jim Jordan; on the same day, NBC News reported that Johnson was considering running if Jordan dropped out.
On October 26, 2023, Johnson met with President Joe Biden for the first time as speaker before attending a bipartisan briefing held at the White House on the administration's proposed funding requests for aid to Ukraine and Israel. On October 30, Johnson suggested rescinding IRS funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to provide Israel $14.3 billion in aid. In November, Johnson proposed a two-tiered stopgap bill that continued spending at levels similar to then-current levels. House conservatives and the Freedom Caucus opposed the bill, but it passed the House on November 14 with the support of 209 Democrats and 127 Republicans. It passed the Senate the next day and was signed by Biden.
On January 7, 2024, congressional appropriators reached an agreement on the topline spending levels for 2024 that was not substantially different from the deal McCarthy negotiated during his tenure as speaker. Hardliners attempted to push Johnson to abandon the deal, initially claiming that he had done so before Johnson clarified that he had not. As negotiations continued over the full-year funding bills, conservatives pushed Johnson to instead endorse a full-year continuing resolution, which under McCarthy's deal would result in automatic spending cuts. On March 6, 2024, the House passed a $459 billion "minibus" spending package containing six of the twelve appropriations bills. The rightmost faction of the Republican conference harshly opposed the deal, arguing it contained no substantial conservative policy wins. On March 22, the House passed a second $741 billion minibus to fund the remaining government departments; most Republicans voted against the bill, but it passed with Democratic support. The bill's passage, and the decision to rely on Democratic votes to get it through, led Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene to file a motion to vacate Johnson's speakership. Greene could have forced a vote on the motion immediately, but initially chose not to, saying that she merely intended to send Johnson "a warning".
On May 8, 2024, Greene (who had strongly opposed Johnson's resolve to provide Ukraine with further aid) introduced a motion to vacate Johnson's speakership on the floor, forcing a vote on it within two legislative days. The House voted to table (kill) the motion by a vote of 359 to 43, allowing Johnson to remain speaker. One hundred ninety-six Republicans and 163 Democrats voted to kill the resolution; 11 Republicans and 32 Democrats voted against killing the resolution. The Democrats who supported Johnson claimed they did so because of the vital role he had played in providing funding for the federal government and for Ukraine.
In a Washington Times editorial, former Republican speaker Newt Gingrich wrote that he was "deeply impressed" with Johnson, who he believes is "doing an excellent job" despite having "the most challenging speakership since the Civil War".
Johnson endorsed Trump's 2024 campaign for president, and Trump has endorsed Johnson. Johnson and Trump are considered close allies, having worked closely together since 2017. Trump has called Johnson "a good man who is trying very hard" and "doing a very good job".
In March 2025, after several federal judges issued injunctions against the Trump administration's policies, Johnson called this a "dangerous trend", saying it "violates separation of powers when a judge thinks that they can enjoin something that a president is doing". He also said that Congress "can eliminate an entire district court. We have power over funding, over the courts". A month earlier, Johnson had urged judges to "step back" from interfering with DOGE's attempts to improve governmental efficiency.
In 2020, Johnson co-wrote a national security report with a section on China trade issues as the leader of the Republican Study Committee. The report called for tougher sanctions on companies and individuals affiliated with the People's Liberation Army as well as the expansion of trade with countries such as Taiwan, Indonesia and Mongolia to counter China. Before 2023, he introduced two bills about China; one that would ban former members of the United States Congress from lobbying for communist entities and another to forbid foreign governments from funding litigation in U.S. courts.
In January 2024, Johnson opposed a bipartisan, Senate Republican-backed border security and immigration bill that would also provide funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. That bill failed to pass the Senate. During border negotiations, Johnson said that he discussed immigration policy frequently with Trump.
Johnson opposed the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas, which held that most criminal punishment of private sexual conduct between consenting adults is unconstitutional. Johnson's employer at the time, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), submitted an amicus brief that supported maintaining criminalization. In a 2003 editorial, Johnson wrote, "States have many legitimate grounds to proscribe same-sex deviate sexual intercourse."
Johnson opposed Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationally. In an interview shortly after he was elected speaker, Johnson said, "I am a rule-of-law guy. I made a career defending the rule of law. I respect the rule of law. When the Supreme Court issued the Obergefell opinion, that became the law of the land, OK."
Social Network
Information about Mike Johnson's social media presence is not extensively documented, but as a public figure, he likely maintains official profiles on platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
In 2015, Johnson founded Freedom Guard, a nonprofit law firm that engaged in religious liberty litigation. He was its chief counsel. During his time at Freedom Guard, he "defended the sports chaplaincy program at Louisiana State University from attacks that it was unconstitutional". Also, when Kentucky officials withdrew millions of dollars of tax breaks from the Ark Encounter theme park in Williamstown, Kentucky, Johnson represented Ark Encounter and its owner, Answers in Genesis, in a 2015 federal lawsuit. The court ruled in favor of Answers in Genesis, saying the state's exclusion of the ark from the tourism tax incentive based on its "religious purpose and message" violated the First Amendment. After the ruling, Johnson said: "The court has affirmed a longstanding principle that the Constitution does not permit a state to show hostility towards religion. The First Amendment does not allow Christian organizations to be treated like second-class citizens merely because of what they believe."
In September 2016, Johnson summarized his legal career as "defending religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and biblical values, including the defense of traditional marriage, and other ideals like these when they've been under assault".
In April 2024, more than two months after the Senate had passed a funding bill for Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine, Johnson put forward a legislative package providing aid to the three countries in separate bills, each of which passed Congress with bipartisan support and large majorities and was signed into law by President Biden. The legislative package also included a House-passed bill to force the app TikTok to divest from its Chinese Communist Party-controlled parent company, ByteDance, as well as the REPO for Ukrainians Act, a measure that allows the U.S. government to fund the Ukrainian war effort with assets seized from Russian oligarchs.
In May 2024, Politico wrote that Johnson had aligned himself with former President Trump "while not being treated like a golden retriever" and that he had "fortified his reputation in consequential ways. Substantively, Johnson is an authentic movement conservative" who has been "successful in isolating his critics". According to Politico, he has "proved deft in recent months at handling his members." House Republicans have praised him for keeping his word and avoiding "making promises he can't keep", while he has operated in good faith with Democrats and "stayed respectful of the opposition".
In May 2024, conservative columnist Marc Thiessen wrote in The Washington Post that "Johnson has gone from accidental House speaker to one of the most consequential House speakers in a generation" and that despite presiding over the smallest House majority in U.S. history, Johnson had become "one of the most effective speakers ever".
Johnson opposed Roe v. Wade. In Congress, he has supported bills outlawing abortion both at fertilization and at 15 weeks' gestation. In a 2017 House Judiciary Committee meeting, Johnson argued that Roe v. Wade made it necessary to cut social programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid because abortion reduced the labor force and thus damaged the economy.
In 2015, Johnson wrote on Facebook that "Donald Trump... lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House", adding: "I am afraid he would break more things than he fixes. He is a hot head by nature, and that is a dangerous trait to have in a Commander in Chief.... I just don't think he has the demeanor to be President."
Education
Johnson holds a law degree from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University. He also attended Louisiana State University for his undergraduate studies.
In summary, Mike Johnson's career is marked by his political leadership and legal expertise, with a notable increase in his public profile as Speaker of the House. His financial situation reflects a mix of public service income and modest private investments.
Johnson is a graduate of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University. Before entering politics, he worked as an attorney in private practice and for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative Christian legal advocacy group. Johnson sat on the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention between 2004 and 2012.
In August 2010, Johnson was named the "founding dean" of the newly established Pressler School of Law at Louisiana College. The law school never opened, and Johnson resigned in August 2012. Joe Aguillard, accused by a university vice president of misappropriating money and lying to the board, blamed Johnson's resignation for the law school's failure. The college soon terminated Aguillard, as it was determined he "engaged in numerous improprieties and falsities in his representations not only to school donors, but to the Board of Trustees". The parent college has since been embroiled in administrative and legal problems.
Johnson is a professor at Liberty University and teaches classes at its Helms School of Government. From roughly 2015 to 2022, he was an occasional guest host of Tony Perkins's radio talk show Washington Watch.
Johnson was sworn into office as a member of Congress on January 3, 2017. He has served as a deputy whip for House Republicans, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, and as a member of the Armed Services Committee. From 2019 to 2021, Johnson chaired the Republican Study Committee. Johnson served as vice chair of the House Republican Conference from 2021 to 2023. He was supported by the House Freedom Caucus PAC and frequently attended House Freedom Caucus meetings without formally joining the Caucus.
During the January 2021 United States Electoral College vote count, Johnson was one of 120 U.S. representatives who objected to certifying the 2020 presidential election results from both Arizona and Pennsylvania, while another 19 U.S. representatives objected for one of these states. The New York Times called Johnson "the most important architect of the Electoral College objections" because he had argued to reject the results based on the argument of "constitutional infirmity" and persuaded "about three-quarters" of the objectors to use that rationale. Johnson's argument was that certain state officials had violated the Constitution by relaxing restrictions on mail-in voting or early voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic without consulting state legislatures.
In 2015, Johnson blamed abortions and the "breakup [of] the nuclear family" for school shootings, saying, "when you tell a generation of people that life has no value, no meaning, that it's expendable, then you do wind up with school shooters." In 2015 and 2016, he led an anti-abortion "Life March" in Shreveport-Bossier City.
AIPAC, a large pro-Israel lobbyist organization, was Johnson's largest financial donor in 2023. In April 2024, Johnson criticized pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. university campuses, saying he was determined "that Congress will not be silent as Jewish students are expected to run for their lives and stay home from their classes hiding in fear."
In 2019, in his capacity as chair of the Republican Study Committee, Johnson spearheaded an effort to replace the ACA. The committee's plan would have rescinded the ACA's Medicaid expansion.
In a 2003 article, Johnson wrote: "Homosexuals do not meet the criteria for a suspect class under the equal protection clause because they are neither disadvantaged nor identified on the basis of immutable characteristics, as all are capable of changing their abnormal lifestyles." He wrote that legalizing same-sex marriage could put the country's "entire democratic system in jeopardy". In another article, he wrote, "experts project that homosexual marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic".
In 2022, Johnson introduced the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act, which would prohibit federally funded institutions, including public schools and libraries, from mentioning sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill has been compared to the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, commonly referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" law.
In April 2018, Johnson joined Republican state Attorney General Jeff Landry and Christian actor Kirk Cameron to argue under the First Amendment for student-led prayer and religious expression in public schools.
