Speaker Mike Johnson: Trump's point man on Capitol Hill

Summary

Pod Force One: Speaker Mike Johnson – Trump's Point Man on Capitol Hill

In the July 16, 2025 episode of Pod Force One, hosted by New York Post columnist Miranda Devine, the conversation centers around Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, positioned as a key figure in advancing former President Donald Trump's agenda on Capitol Hill. This detailed summary captures the essence of their discussion, highlighting Johnson's legislative strategies, leadership style, personal experiences, and his relationship with Trump.

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Passing the "One Big Beautiful" Bill

Miranda Devine opens the dialogue by congratulating Speaker Johnson on successfully shepherding a significant legislative package through Congress.

Mike Johnson attributes this achievement to "a lot of prayer and patience" ([00:27]). He emphasizes the importance of preparation, noting, "victory loves preparation" (Vince Lombardi) and outlines the strategic planning that began in spring 2024. Anticipating a narrow majority due to gerrymandering and redistricting, Johnson and his team opted for a partisan approach using the budget reconciliation process to bypass the traditional 60-vote threshold in the Senate. This method allowed them to introduce comprehensive public policy reforms aimed at rectifying what Johnson describes as "everything [Biden Harris] just destroyed in four years."

He elaborates on the complexity of the legislation, stating, "it was going to be very complicated, very complex. It's going to be a very large piece of legislation" ([00:55]). Over 15 to 16 months of meticulous planning culminated in the final vote timed for July 4th ([01:55]).

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Role as Speaker and Legislative Management

When pressed on the practical aspects of his role, Johnson describes the modern Speaker's responsibilities as multifaceted, combining policy direction with mental health counseling due to the pressures of social media and public scrutiny.

He reflects on managing a slim majority, stating, "we had a one vote margin for most of the first hundred days, the smallest in history" ([02:05]). Johnson underscores his commitment to understanding his colleagues' motivations and district dynamics, aiming to "make everybody successful" and align their efforts for the country's benefit ([02:58]).

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Confrontation with Elon Musk

A significant portion of the conversation addresses Elon Musk's attempt to derail the "One Big Beautiful" bill.

Miranda Devine mentions Musk's interference, to which Johnson responds by acknowledging Musk's intelligence but points out his lack of legislative expertise: "Elon is a genius, okay. He does things that I can't even fathom, but one of his fields of expertise was not necessarily crafting legislation" ([04:01]).

Johnson recounts their collaboration over the past year, including Musk’s involvement with the Trump agenda and fundraising efforts. Despite their friendship and Johnson's efforts to educate Musk on the legislative process, Musk became "disgruntled with the package and the way it was done" ([05:18]). Johnson defends the bill's necessity, highlighting its scale with over "$1.5 trillion in spending saved" and likens the legislative shift to turning an "aircraft carrier" that requires a "mile of open ocean" to change direction ([05:24]).

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Leadership Philosophy and Legislative Strategy

Johnson discusses the ongoing efforts to maintain fiscal responsibility through additional measures like the "precision bill," aimed at rescinding $94 billion in what he deems "waste, fraud, and abuse under the Biden administration" ([06:14]). He cites examples such as USAID funding for "transgender operas in Peru," underscoring the need to reclaim taxpayer dollars ([07:21]).

He stresses the importance of faith and humility in leadership, quoting John Quincy Adams: "duty is ours, results are God's" ([26:46]). This philosophy aids him in managing recalcitrant members by promoting empathy and maintaining focus on legislative goals rather than personal conflicts. Johnson aspires to the collegiality exemplified by Ronald Reagan, advocating for respectful interactions even amidst policy disputes ([28:31]).

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Relationship with Donald Trump

A central theme is Johnson's close working relationship with Donald Trump. He recounts their nearly decade-long collaboration beginning in January 2017, highlighting mutual trust and friendship. Johnson served as one of Trump's defense attorneys during two impeachment trials, solidifying their bond.

He reflects on Trump's evolution, noting, "he's more thoughtful, contemplative... open to counsel" following personal challenges, including surviving two assassination attempts ([11:35]). Johnson attributes Trump's resilience and deep faith to his steadfastness, stating, "He's the most resilient" and sharing their shared belief that "God spared your life on the world stage" ([12:37]).

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Personal Experiences and Family Life

Miranda Devine prompts Johnson to share a harrowing personal experience from 2023, where his two elder sons nearly drowned.

Mike Johnson narrates the incident, explaining that while raising funds at Mar-a-Lago during Thanksgiving break, his sons were caught in a rip current. His older son, Jack, nearly drowned while saving his younger brother, Will. The family was saved thanks to a passing parasol and quick action by rescuers. Johnson describes the emotional aftermath, including President Trump calling him expressing that it was "like a miracle" ([14:32]).

Johnson delves into his upbringing in Shreveport, Louisiana, revealing that he was raised by teenage parents who chose life over abortion, shaping his pro-life stance. He shares the profound impact of his father's severe injury in a firefighting accident, which instilled in him a deep sense of responsibility and empathy ([19:01]).

He also discusses his extended family, including adopting a black teenager who has since become a successful adult with four children. This decision, made out of necessity, has had a lasting positive influence on his family ([25:17]).

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Family and Relocation to Washington

Johnson speaks fondly of his wife, Kelly, whom he met before graduating law school, and their four children. He highlights his daughters' achievements in law and his sons' engagement in the Naval Academy and high school, respectively. The demands of his role have necessitated moving his family to Washington, allowing him to balance his legislative duties with family life ([24:11]).

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Future Aspirations and Party Dynamics

When asked about presidential ambitions, Johnson humbly responds that he does not aspire to the presidency, focusing instead on faithfully serving as Speaker. He reflects on the unique challenges of the Speakership compared to historical precedents, suggesting that only one Speaker, James K. Polk, transitioned to the presidency due to the role’s all-consuming nature ([29:29]).

Discussing the future of the MAGA movement post-Trump, Johnson acknowledges that while the movement will continue, it will differ without Trump. He emphasizes the party's shift towards a working-class base and the importance of holding onto its core American principles to maintain unity and effectiveness ([17:50]).

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Closing Thoughts

Throughout the conversation, Speaker Mike Johnson underscores the significance of faith, preparation, and empathy in his leadership approach. His dedication to legislative success, personal resilience, and commitment to his principles positions him as a pivotal figure in advancing conservative agendas on Capitol Hill.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mike Johnson: "Victory loves preparation." ([00:27])
• Mike Johnson: "The US Economy is that you don't turn an aircraft carrier on a dime. It takes a mile of open ocean when it's top speed." ([05:24])
• Mike Johnson: "Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope." ([22:16])
• Mike Johnson: "Duty is ours, results are God's." ([26:46])

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This episode offers a comprehensive look into Speaker Mike Johnson's strategies, personal life, and unwavering commitment to his legislative goals, providing listeners with an in-depth understanding of his role in shaping America's future.

Transcript

[Miranda Devine]

Welcome back to the Pod Force One podcast. I'm Miranda Devine and today I'm in the United States Capitol Building and I'm joined by the third in line to the presidency, speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. Speaker Johnson, thank you so much for joining us on Pod Force One. And congratulations on getting the one big beautiful bill over the line. How did you do it?

[Mike Johnson]

A lot of prayer and patience, really. We're getting a lot of credit for pulling off a miracle. It wasn't, I think it was Vince Lombardi that said, victory loves preparation. So we prepared for this. You know, back in the spring of 2024, we had the vision for what we believed would happen. I was convinced President Trump was coming back to the White House. And I thought we'd have the majority in the House and the Senate, but we knew the majorities would be small because we're in an era of gerrymandering and redistricting and we have a three vote margin in both chambers now. So we looked ahead of that, anticipating would have this historic moment and that we would have to fix every metric of public policy because Biden Harris just destroyed everything in four years. So to do that, we knew we would need to do a partisan exercise. We would have to use the budget reconciliation process, which is, as you know, the only way around the 60 vote, 60 vote threshold in the Senate, which is always otherwise necessary. So to do that, that you're never going to make. Never going to make. I mean, Chuck Schumer, the Democrats not going to help. No. Right. And we knew that. So I told all my colleagues, we had a retreat where we planned all this. And I said, guys, we, this is what's going to happen. We're going to have unified government. We've got to make the most of it. Let's do reconciliation bigger than it's ever been done in history. Instead of just using two committees of jurisdiction like in the past, why don't we use 11 committees? But to do that, it's going to be very complicated, very complex. It's going to be a very large piece of legislation. But if we plan accordingly, we can achieve that goal together. And that's what we did. So we started planning over a year ago. About 15 or 16 months of work went into delivering that final vote in time for July 4th.

[Miranda Devine]

And when you say work, I mean it's patience. It is actual, like wrangling human beings. So how do you do that? What does the speaker actually do?

[Mike Johnson]

Well, the speaker in the modern era is different, I think, than it was probably in previous generations, there's always been a whip operation. But the way Congress has evolved now in the age of social media, when everyone could go online every two minutes and say what they're disgruntled about, I'm really as much a mental health counselor as I am a legislator, you know, a policy director, because you got to do all these things simultaneously and you have to deal with everyone with their individual preferences and peccadillos, and it's not always easy. You know, we had a, a one vote margin for most of the first hundred days, the smallest in history. It would seemingly be an impossible set of circumstances. But look, I genuinely love everybody I serve with. I know what makes them tick. I know the dynamics of their districts. I know where their pressure points are. And I try to work every day to make everybody successful. You know, they, to have them be of their highest and best use to the country and to their constituents. And that's the trick. And that's what we try to do every single day.

[Miranda Devine]

So who's your most troublesome member or the one you've had to spend the most amount of time with?

[Mike Johnson]

I'm not going to name names. I mean, you know, they, they self identify because they go out on social media and cause problems sometimes. But look, I, I love and respect them all. Some of them require more attention than others, but, you know, they're. Everybody's principled here. They're all trying to achieve the best objective for their constituents and for the country. And I respect that. And, you know, I never remind them all. I'm never going to ask anybody to compromise a core principle. I do expect them to give up on some of their preferences because that's the way a legislative body works. You know, it's a liberative public body. And you have 219 colleagues here on our side of the aisle, so I expect them to do that at the end. But I, I do a lot less arm twisting than I do just convincing.

[Miranda Devine]

You know, you also had Elon Musk, who kind of came in out of the shadows at the end and tried to kill the bill. And I know you'd spend a lot of time educating him, bringing him along in the process. What went wrong?

[Mike Johnson]

Look, Elon is a genius, okay? He does things that I can't even fathom, but one of his fields of expertise was not necessarily crafting legislation, right? So got to know him really well over the last, you know, year as he came on board with the Trump agenda and helping the campaign and all that. In fact, he requested A meeting with me months before the election, came in and sat down in my office and said, I'm going to get involved in a big way. And. And we just kind of brainstormed together because he's never. Well, he was launching the pack and he was going to invest a lot of money, and he. He wanted, I guess, my inside counsel on best practices and tips and maybe some recommendations on persons who he could get involved, because that just wasn't his field, his area. So I got to know and respect Elon. You know, we became friends in the whole process. And when the Doge effort was launched and started, we met early on in the process. I talked to him about the codification process, that we didn't want this to be a flash in the pan. We want to codify it, make it a permanent part of the way we do business here. And there's a certain series of steps that we had to go through, a sequential series of steps to do that. He understands the science part of that. Right. But at the end, I mean, he just became disgruntled with the package and the way it was done. Elon, I've tried to convince him we're taking several steps. I call it the Five steps to Fiscal Sanity, Fiscal responsibility.

[Miranda Devine]

You're a hawk yourself.

[Mike Johnson]

Yes. And we spend too much money, and the debt is our number one national security threat.

[Miranda Devine]

And I think that Congress will solve it.

[Mike Johnson]

Yes, more than that. Now, the trajectory is not sustainable, but we can't solve the problem overnight because it took decades for us to get here. Right. The big, beautiful bill was a giant leap forward. We're going to save over $1.5 trillion in spending. It's the largest that any legislative body in the history of mankind has ever done. Is it enough? No, it's a drop in the bucket, but it is a turn. I use the metaphor of an aircraft carrier. The US Economy is that you don't turn an aircraft carrier on a dime. It takes a mile of open ocean when it's top speed. This was the first big CR crank on the wheel, the turn on the wheel that we've had in generations. And now we have the next sequential steps to. To do, to continue that.

[Miranda Devine]

And the next step is something called a precision bill, isn't it? Which would explain just briefly what that is and what you'll be cutting. I think it's like $94 billion.

[Mike Johnson]

Yes. You know, it's a rescission is in layman's terms, it's when Congress claws back spending that is being wasted, fraud, wasting.

[Miranda Devine]

Abuse under the Biden administration.

[Mike Johnson]

That's right. That's right. And the president and his administration came in, they identified these areas like USAID for examp, which was just fraught with abuse and wasteful uses of taxpayer dollars. We were funding transgender operas in Peru, you know, and Congress didn't know that. Right. Which is one of the, one of the credits to the Doge effort is they were able to crack the code, get inside the belly of the beast of the agencies, crawl through the data with magic algorithms and find these things that we didn't know. So we found that out. We were alarmed, as everyone was, and we immediately sought to bring it back. But in order to do that, you have to get a request from the administration, the White House, the, the executive branch to the legislative branch, saying, please take this back. We did that and we passed it in the House. It's pending action in the Senate right now. And that, we hope, is the first of a series of rescissions packages that come forward where we, you know, again, in our steps, our sequential steps to getting back fiscal, fiscal sanity. That's going to be a piece of it.

[Miranda Devine]

And so usaid, all that wasteful money, plus npr, pbs.

[Mike Johnson]

Yes, that.

[Miranda Devine]

Why is that?

[Mike Johnson]

Well, it's, we've long known conservatives have been frustrated about NPR and pbs, for example, for many, many years because it's a lopsided, you know, biased journalism. They're not objective in any form of fiction, propaganda, let's call it what it is, and taxpayers should not be funding that. So we feel strongly about that. The rescissions package reflects that, and I hope the Senate sees it the same way.

[Miranda Devine]

And Elon Musk couldn't be convinced that this was the right way to go about it, or was it something personal? I felt like it wasn't really about the bill. He was disgruntled with, I don't know, not being in favor with Donald Trump or something. I don't know what.

[Mike Johnson]

There's probably a multitude of factors. I'll let everybody else judge the motivations behind it, but clearly he got unhappy in a, in a very short period of time. I mean, he generally knew what we were doing and we talked about it. I mean, he knew for months, I mean, many months we worked on this. And I was keeping him apprised of it. I was sending him long text messages explaining each piece. We talked about it in person. I don't think he was the final product, maybe didn't meet all of his expectations in terms of what we're doing, for example, with Electric Vehicles and the Biden mandates and all that. But there are other things as well. But look, I let other people judge that. I've got to keep my eyes on the prize and keep going forward. And I'm trying to be a peacemaker in all of it. I've reached out to Elon multiple times.

[Miranda Devine]

Since the blow up.

[Mike Johnson]

Yes. And I wanted he and the President to mend it up. And frankly, I think the President was of that mind as well. But, you know, there's some tension there.

[Miranda Devine]

Yeah. So. And he's responded, Elon, to you?

[Mike Johnson]

Well, through a third party, actually. So he, it's not really all his fault. I sent him a long text message and then his phone, his number changed because after the blow up, something happened with this.

[Miranda Devine]

Yeah.

[Mike Johnson]

So I got the number later and realized I was sending it out into the ether somewhere. He never read it. So I look forward to meeting with him in person. We. We got to make that right. I got nothing against Elon, obviously. I have great respect for what he's done and I just want him to fully understand what we're doing and remind him of the strategy. This is a long term play. We can't fix this stuff overnight. But we have a plan to do it. And I think that's going to be pleasing to everybody who's worried about our deficit and our debt.

[Miranda Devine]

And Donald Trump, what's your relationship like with him now? You've become, I mean, he's called the sort of the second speaker. You've been working hand in glove. I know, with this.

[Mike Johnson]

We have. I mean, we've been working together now almost a decade. I mean, I came to Congress in January 2017 as a freshman in Congress. At the same time he was introduced to Washington. So we, we sort of walk through a lot of those valleys together and have built a very close relationship, one of trust and, and close friendship. And he calls me all the time. You know, we talk through strategy and, and I think it's very important for the country to have a president, a Commander in chief and a Speaker of the House who have a great working relationship. Certainly when we're of the same party and have the same policy and in mind.

[Miranda Devine]

Because it didn't happen with Paul Ryan, did it? I mean. Yeah, you saw that.

[Mike Johnson]

Yeah. And it wasn't, it wasn't Paul's fault. The two men had just never known one another. And no one expected Trump to win in 2016. And when he did, it was a shock and all thing. And the leadership in the Congress at the time was being introduced to the president, as everyone else in Washington was. So they had the. A big disadvantage there. They had to forge that kind of relationship in the. In the middle of the, you know, fire. We. We have the benefit of having had long history together and, and been through a lot together.

[Miranda Devine]

And the impeachment. You.

[Mike Johnson]

Yes, I was one of his defense attorneys twice. And, you know, I worked, served on the Judiciary Committee, which was ground zero for a lot of the lawfare that they engaged in against the president, against President Trump. He's the most maligned and attacked public figure in all of the history of American politics. He's also the most resilient. And so I so deeply respect that about him and the fact that he can't hold him down. And I made the comment on the anniversary of the Butler shooting, you know, a couple of days ago that he's a. He's a different person now than he was in the first term. He's more thoughtful, contemplative. He thinks very carefully about decisions and. And is open to counsel on it. I mean, he's. I think his head and his heart are in exactly the right place where we would all want to.

[Miranda Devine]

And why has he changed?

[Mike Johnson]

Well, I think surviving two failed assassination attempts would get any man's attention. It makes him think deeply, I think, about his legacy, his place in history.

[Miranda Devine]

And God.

[Mike Johnson]

And God, yeah. And he and I talk about that openly.

[Miranda Devine]

Really.

[Mike Johnson]

Everybody knows where I stand on this. I told him right after the first attempt, I said, there are no accidents. I don't believe in luck. I believe that was providential. God spared your life on the world stage 64 days later, after the second failed assassination attempt, when the Secret Service found the gun in the bushes on the golf course in Florida, Providentially. My wife and I were landing at Mar a Lago to meet with him right after that round of golf. And it just so happened, the way it all worked. We wound up at Mar a Lago together, and he and I, my wife Susie Wiles, and Hogan Gidley, who worked on my works on. My staff used to work on his. The five of us sat in a corner at Mar a Lago when the place was locked down before the all clear for almost three hours and had right after. I mean, he came in and scarf attire, and we sat and processed that. And it was a very. Yeah, I mean, I did. I don't know if I prayed over him.

[Miranda Devine]

Yes.

[Mike Johnson]

But I tell you what, he, he, he. I told him, I said, God's now spared your life twice on the world stage. It's no, it's no small thing. And clearly you're going to win the election and you're going to be raised up to run the greatest country in the history of the world for the second time. What a profound thing that is. And man that settled on him and you could see it on his countenance of his face. And he's, he's spoken openly about that ever since. He says it routinely now. God saved his life. I believe that. I believe millions of Americans believe and understand that. And he's upheld by the prayer of a lot of people every day. That's a profound thing. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states.

[Miranda Devine]

Power Politics and the People behind the headlines I'm Miranda Devine, New York Post columnist and and the host of the brand new podcast podforceone. Every week I'll sit down for candid conversations with Washington's most powerful disruptors, lawmakers, newsmakers, and even the President of the United States. These are the leaders shaping the future of America and the world. Listen to podforce One with me, Miranda Devine, every week on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. You don't want to miss an episode. And you had an incident yourself, didn't you, in 23 when you were at Mar a Lago and your two elder sons, I think 18 and 13, almost drowned. Tell us about that.

[Mike Johnson]

Well, it's a long story. The short version is we I was down there raising money. I'd been speaker for about a month. It was in November of 23. Yeah, that's right. And my boys were on Thanksgiving break for school so they went with me. And my oldest son has now just completed his freshman year at the Naval Academy and great athlete. He wants to be special forces and all that. And his younger brother, also a great athlete, but they were out in the Atlantic and they got caught in a rip current and pulled far out to sea.

[Miranda Devine]

Scary.

[Mike Johnson]

I was inside the building having meetings with donors and my detail, security detail ran and burst into the room and said sir, you need it on the beach. And I could tell in their faces. Long story short, they got pulled far out and they almost drowned. My oldest son was holding his younger brother, 13 year old brother up and he almost drowned. And then the Younger one almost did as well. Jack and Will, they went to the er, had their lungs pumped. I mean, it was a. It was quite an ordeal. They're great swimmers, but the rip current was so strong that day, and they got pulled far, far out. And the only reason they were saved is because a parasol or happened to be going by and saw just my youngest son's head right before he went under, waving for help. And the guy diverted to the beach and they sent the jet skis out, and, you know, the rest is history. So the President, we either we. After I got them kind of nurse back to help, we flew back home to Louisiana early on the trip, and the President found out about it 24 hours later. I didn't even tell him. We had had dinner with him the night before, my sons and I, and he called me, and he was so alarmed by what he heard. And he said, mike, it's like a miracle. I said, it is. I had it not been for the parasol, or we would have lost my sons. And he was so struck by that because he's very close to his sons. It really resonated in his heart. So fast forward to the Butler, Pennsylvania event many months later when that happened. When I spoke to him after that, I said, you know, God saved your life, just as he did my boys in Mar? A Lago. And he had already acknowledged that was true. And, you know, God works in mysterious ways sometimes, teaching us all these lessons. But that was a tough one. Yeah, yeah.

[Miranda Devine]

And I. I know that you do some amazing impersonations. Donald Trump, can you do one for us?

[Mike Johnson]

No, I just hear his voice in my head when I'm relaying a conversation we've had. It comes out in his voice.

[Miranda Devine]

You know what, Heidi, about the One Big Beautiful. Bill, was there something.

[Mike Johnson]

Well, quick story. So we were. When we named it, we were in the Oval Office. We were sitting in front of the Resolute desk. He's at the desk, and Thune was here, and Jason Smith, the Ways and Means chair, and I think JD Was there and other staffers and the President. What are we going to name? What are you going to call it? And Jason Smith says, well, Sarah, we got a few great options. You know, these are, you know, clever acronyms. He goes, no, I just think we call it the One Big Beautiful. But don't you think, like, don't you think that's great? That's so simple.

[Miranda Devine]

It's great.

[Mike Johnson]

And he passed it around to us on a piece of paper. And big, bold, fun, One Big beautiful And he goes, now can we put an exclamation point? I said, sir, no, we can't do, we can't do an exclamation point. That's not a thing in legislation. You know, he has dialed in like no commander in chief has been in recent memory. I don't know that there is a precedent for a president who's so engaged and, and he's unique. He's very unique that way. And the country needs it right now. And the America first agenda is no longer a slogan. It's now the law of the land because of the big beautiful bill. And we got more to do.

[Miranda Devine]

Do you think MAGA will survive when President Trump is gone, when he's no longer in office? Is there anyone else that could keep that coalition together?

[Mike Johnson]

He and I talked about this about 48 hours ago. He called me early in the morning, whatever today is, I don't know, a couple of days ago. And that was the subject, part, part of the subject of the conversation. I think the movement goes forward, it won't be the same without him. But he's done a recalibration of, of our party in many ways. We brought in new demographics, big groups of people that have not been with us probably since the early 80s under Reagan.

[Miranda Devine]

Former Democrat voters.

[Mike Johnson]

That's right. We're a working class party, as we should be, and it's, we represent the core principles. And I'm, I'm one of the people who's trying to keep us tied to the moorings. You know, the, the core principles are the core principles of America. They're the principles that made us the greatest nation in the history of the world. And we abandoned them at our peril, you know, and so there's a lot of competing ideas and different forces out there right now, but I, I think we got to hold on to the soul of the party because that's what gotten us to this point.

[Miranda Devine]

So your childhood back in Shreveport, Louisiana, your, you had teenage parents and tell us about that because your mother was, they were still at high school and your mother was advised to abort you.

[Mike Johnson]

Yeah. This was exactly a year before Roe v. Wade. January of 72. Roe was 73 in January, but abortion was still available. And, you know, they were teenagers and people said, you should go take care of that problem. But my parents were both raised in Catholic families and they heard somewhere that life was sacred and created by God and maybe they shouldn't do that. And so they didn't. Thankfully. I'm always been eternally grateful that they gave Me the chance at life. And they dropped out of high school. They were juniors in high school. So my dad had to go to work. They start a family. Family. He became firefighter and, and the oldest of four children. And you know, it's just always been people say, why are you so pro life? Well, you know, it's, it's my life story.

[Miranda Devine]

And were you always aware of that?

[Mike Johnson]

Yeah, I was. I mean, I knew that my parents were very young. You know, my mom looks like my older sister. You know, she's 17 years older than me. But we were so blessed by that and the recognition that life is sacred. And yeah, when I was 12 years old, I'm the most of four kids. My father was a firefighter. Got blown up in an explosion on a job bur 80% of his body, third degree burns and had a 5% chance to live. And again, reinforcing to me this the sacred nature of life. The fact that our faith is very real. It's not an ethereal concept. We prayed for my dad to be miraculously saved and he was, his partner died, didn't he? Yeah, he did. Tragic explosion. Yeah, sure did. And my dad was severely disabled after that.

[Miranda Devine]

How did it impact him?

[Mike Johnson]

It was a huge change in the trajectory of all of our lives. But he, he was, you know, disabled after that and had, I don't know, does scores of surgeries, skin grafts, a lot of pain. Lived in pain the rest of his life. I lost him three days before I got elected to Congress 2016. And he had cancer at the end. And he, he, he wanted so badly to be there on election night. And it was just, it was just. He was so tough, but he was just eating alive with it.

[Miranda Devine]

I'm sure he saw you anyway.

[Mike Johnson]

I think so, yeah. I mean, it's been tough, you know, it's tough because on election night it was so bittersweet, sweet. We want to see it in Congress, but I wanted my dad to see it so badly. I'm the first person in my family to go to college and all that. And he, you know, he would have so enjoyed this that we couldn't, we, none of us could have ever imagined this, you know, But I do feel like he is experiencing it on the other side, you know.

[Miranda Devine]

And what impact did his injuries have on you? You were 12 years old.

[Mike Johnson]

Yeah.

[Miranda Devine]

Did you have to step up and be sort of man of the house?

[Mike Johnson]

Yeah. And we lived on a little tiny little kind of like family farm out, you know, out in the country, outside of my hometown of Shreveport. Louisiana. I grew up at the fire and police training academy because my dad was also a training officer, and I aspired to be the chief of the Shreveport Fire Department. I mean, that was, to me, that was, of course, end all, be all of everything. And, and when he was injured, they, they just kind of discouraged that a little bit. Why don't you guys go to school? And so I did. But, yeah, when I was 12, I had had. There was a lot of responsibilities at home and on this little farm operation we had. And, you know, my dad was incapacitated, so I had to pick it up. We had a great community of support in our hometown and, you know, the firefighter, the fire service is a fraternity unlike any other, and the police in the local community and all that. But, I mean, I had to, I had to step up and have a. I had to grow up pretty fast.

[Miranda Devine]

You would have had a. Felt a responsibility to your mom, to.

[Mike Johnson]

Your younger siblings and. Yeah, because my mom, my dad was, I mean, he was in the hospital for months and we couldn't see him for a long time because he was burned and, you know, for the infection concerns and all that. And so we were kind of shuffled around between family members and friends in our community, and I just had to kind of shepherd my little group, younger siblings, and, and then take over the roles of the family later. In hindsight, there's all sorts of deep psychology about all this, you know, but, but it built in me a kind of certain sense of responsibility and maturity that, you know. Oh, for sure, yeah. I mean, God uses our tragedy in our past to prepare us for what he has to do later. And there's a passage of scripture I think about often. Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. And so we go through these things, the valleys, but it makes you appreciate the mountains a lot more and it makes you keenly aware of other people's struggles and tragedy. And it allows you to have more empathy for more people. And all those are critical skills right now.

[Miranda Devine]

Yes.

[Mike Johnson]

Hey, Bill O'Reilly here, host of the no Spin News corporate media programs. They're often lazy and dishonest. You know that the podcast world filled with misleading bomb throwers masking important issues that directly impact you. The no Spin News is here to counteract that. We are a fact based, honest and unaffiliated broadcast. Our purpose is to inform you and give the best assessment of the situation, whether it's political or cultural. Please listen to the no Spin News with me, Bill O'Reilly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever podcasts are found. Remember, trust is earned.

[Miranda Devine]

Your wife and your children have moved to Washington with you. Tell, tell me about your wife and how you met her.

[Mike Johnson]

Yeah, I met her at a wedding two weeks before I graduated law school, so she missed that whole misery of that, that season of life. But We've been married 26 years. We have four amazing kids, and my oldest daughter just graduated law school in May. She takes the bar in about a week in Louisiana. Louisiana. She's going to move Capitol Hill and work here. My second daughter already works on Capitol Hill. She deferred law school. She's working on Judiciary Committee, doing some really neat stuff. My oldest son, Jack, just finished his first year at the Naval Academy. And then our youngest son, Will is the last one at home starting ninth grade. And as Speaker, I don't get to be home enough with him. And a 14 year old boy needs his dad, so he's, he and Kelly, my wife, for the first time since I've been in Congress, we, they've moved here and we could be going back and forth to the district. But yeah, we'll kind of, this will kind of be the main operation here, so.

[Miranda Devine]

Because it's a 247 job.

[Mike Johnson]

24 7? Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's hard to describe. This job requires.

[Miranda Devine]

And your oldest son, you adopted him, he was a black teenager. Yeah, tell us about that.

[Mike Johnson]

Just talk to him yesterday. His birthday was last week and he's now 42. But when he was 14, we took him in. We were newlyweds at the time. And, and I think all that math is right. All my dates run together, but he was, I met him doing the Young Life Ministry, which I was doing kind of as a hobby in law school. And he had a really, really tough home life situation. It was basically on the streets.

[Miranda Devine]

Right.

[Mike Johnson]

So we took him in as our own. And so many years now he has four kids of his own. He lives in California. He's very successful and he's fantastic. He's doing great. Yeah.

[Miranda Devine]

Yeah. And was that something difficult to make that decision for the two of you @ the time?

[Mike Johnson]

We really didn't have a choice. It's a long story, but he was at the age where he kind of fell through the cracks in the social system in Louisiana, and, and he wasn't yet an adult, so there wasn't a place for that. And then he had kind of aged out a little bit out of the juveniles kind of situation. And there really was no option. I mean, we had. We took him in and. But grateful. So grateful we did. And that changed our family's lives and, you know, and in very positive ways. And he often says if. If we had not been there to intervene in his life, he would have. He would certainly be in prison or might be dead somewhere. He would have joined the gangs and all that stuff.

[Miranda Devine]

Stuff, yeah.

[Mike Johnson]

He's now 6 foot 7. He looks like my bodyguard, you know, but at the time, he was just little pipsqueaks about my size.

[Miranda Devine]

Wonderful story. And now, lastly, the secret of success. You made a lot of successful people, a lot of successful politicians. You yourself have done pretty well. What is it?

[Mike Johnson]

Well, for me, I mean, this probably defies conventional wisdom, but it's a matter of faith. You just be faithful and humble, and you be faithful in the little thing that God puts before you today, and then you trust him with the rest. I quote often John Quincy Adams, he famously said, duty is ours, results are God's. It's a very liberating way to live. You know, and you just try to be. You just try to do your best every day, do your responsibility, do your duty. And then the. You know, the. I let the chips fall where they may. I'm not the sovereign, and I'm so delighted that I'm not.

[Miranda Devine]

And does that help you? You know, when. When you've got these recalcitrant people that you have to manage, does that give you patience, your faith?

[Mike Johnson]

Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm not sure. I'm not sure anyone could navigate the modern speakership the way it's evolved to today.

[Miranda Devine]

You manage pretty well.

[Mike Johnson]

Well, I mean, I. But without one majority. Yeah, but without that. That faith component, I'm not sure. Right, Yeah. I mean, because you have to be able to just. I mean, scripture says, you know, you love your enemy, of course, as yourself. I mean, you love your neighbors yourself. Love your enemy as well. We don't have enemies in the building. They're all colleagues. Colleagues. But it also says that you bless those who persecute you. You know, you don't keep a record of wrongs. The soft word turns away wrath. There's so much wisdom in the scripture, and if you apply all that, it allows you to navigate very tricky waters and not take things personally. Not return fire when it's shot at you. If I ever did that, I would have had enemies, and we would not have delivered the big, beautiful bill or gotten any of this done. Right? So it doesn't matter how many, you know, you can you learn to take a lot of arrows and keep, keep, keep your eye on the prize and keep moving forward and keep the team moving forward and that, you know, there's just. I don't know how I could do that if I had not been through what I've been through in my life and learned to really internalize those principles and practice them.

[Miranda Devine]

And even Nancy Pelosi has nice things to say about you. So that says a lot.

[Mike Johnson]

She's very kind. I don't. I try not to make enemies around here. We have bitter policy disputes and disagreements, but it's not personal. It shouldn't be. I, I always admired Ronald Reagan as a happy warrior, you know, and his kind of ethos was Reagan's 11th commandment. You don't speak evil of another Republican, certainly. But he even, he even was friendly with his political foes. Right. And when, when he was, when he was. His assassination attempt, when he got shot, famously, the first person to meet him, you know, go visit him in the hospital was Tip o', Neill, who was the Democrat speaker at the time. And they didn't agree on hardly anything thing in policy. And they would have bitter disputes and debates about policy, but it wasn't personal and they were still friends. And they would have a beer together after that. You know, man, I wish we could get back to that around here because it's, it's really important in a republic like ours to have a government up by and for the people. You kind of need the people to get along, you know, even when they disagree. So that's what I'm trying to forge. You.

[Miranda Devine]

Can you see yourself as president one day?

[Mike Johnson]

I don't think about that. I know. I mean, I don't. Look, I, I think this job, there's probably a reason. I think there may be only one speaker, James K. Polk, who became president after that. Because the job is so all consuming and encompassing that it wears everybody out. I mean, look, I'll serve. I serve in any capacity I want, but I don't think about that. Never aspired to it, for that matter. I didn't aspire to this job.

[Miranda Devine]

No. Exactly.

[Mike Johnson]

I'm just trying to be faithful in it.

[Miranda Devine]

Yeah. All right. Thank you so much. I know you have to go out to the House now, but to the floor. But thank you.

[Mike Johnson]

Great to have you here. Thanks for being here.

[Miranda Devine]

Thanks very much.

[Mike Johnson]

You got it.

[Miranda Devine]

Thank you so much for joining us today. We've got new releases every week with some of the most powerful people in Washington. Hit the subscribe button below.