James Michael Johnson (born January 30, 1972) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 56th speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he is in his fifth House term, having represented Louisiana's 4th congressional district since 2017. His district is based in Shreveport and includes much of the state's northwestern portion.
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.
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. 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 Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker of the House, Johnson was elected to replace him, the first Louisianan to hold the post. He was narrowly reelected to a full term as speaker in 2025.
James Michael Johnson was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on January 30, 1972. He is the eldest of four children of Jeanne (née Messina; born 1954) and James Patrick "Pat" Johnson (1953–2016).
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.
Johnson was a constitutional lawyer before entering politics. From 2002 to 2010, he was an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, now known as the Alliance Defending Freedom, a socially conservative legal advocacy group that subscribes to the legal theory of constitutionalism. In 2004, he defended Louisiana Amendment 1, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman within the Louisiana Constitution, against legal challenges.
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.
From 2004 to 2012, Johnson was on the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.
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 2018, Johnson became an adjunct professor teaching online courses at Liberty University's Helms School of Government. From roughly 2015 to 2022, he was an occasional guest host of Tony Perkins's radio talk show Washington Watch.
Louisiana House of Representatives
The 8th District seat of the Louisiana House of Representatives was vacated in 2015 when Jeff R. Thompson was elected to a state district judgeship. Johnson ran to succeed him and was unopposed.
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'".
On May 19, 2015, the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee voted 10–2 to table the bill, effectively ending its chances to become law. Both Republicans and Democrats voted against the bill; other than Johnson, only Republican Ray Garofalo voted for it. In response, Jindal issued an executive order to enforce its intent.
In 2016, Johnson was a strong proponent of a movement, outlined in Article V of the Constitution, to amend the United States Constitution at a national convention called for that purpose. He helped lead the Louisiana House in formally petitioning Congress to call a "Convention of States" to overhaul the Constitution. He later held hearings on this proposal in Congress.
On February 10, 2016, Johnson announced his candidacy for the 4th congressional district seat, which had been held for eight years by John Fleming. Fleming was running for the United States Senate seat vacated by David Vitter. Johnson won the December 10 runoff, defeating Democratic nominee Marshall Jones, 87,370 votes (65%) to 46,579 (35%).
In 2018, Johnson won a second House term, defeating Democratic nominee Ryan Trundle, 139,307 votes (64%) to 72,923 votes (34%).