Johnson floats return to Louisiana if GOP loses majority in midterms
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) floated the idea of returning home to Louisiana if Republicans lose control of the House next year.
“Heaven forbid, if we lose this majority or whatever, I don’t know what my next chapter of life is,” Johnson told Fox News in an exclusive interview. “If God moves on our hearts and says we should, you know, go back to my hometown of Shreveport and start a lawn business, I’ll do that with equal fervor. I mean, I just want to be of my highest and best use to God and to my country.”
Johnson’s remarks come as Republicans confront a difficult political landscape marked by voter frustration over rising gas and grocery prices, President Trump’s low approval ratings and the historical headwinds facing the president’s party in the midterm elections. Decision Desk HQ forecasts that Democrats are favored to win back the House next year.
Johnson’s speakership has often been rocky, marked by internal GOP fighting, a razor-thin margin and repeated challenges in keeping his conference unified behind the president’s agenda. The latest remarks represent perhaps the furthest Johnson has gone in publicly addressing his political future.
Asked about Johnson’s comments during a presser on Thursday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said, “Well, he’ll ultimately have to make a decision about what comes next. I can say that the American people are about to retire Mike Johnson and the Republican majority in the House and possibly even in the Senate.”
Lance Trover, Johnson’s spokesperson, meanwhile, wrote on the social platform X that “All the DC speculation about the Speaker because he dared to speculate about his potential future in the lawn care business is hilarious.”
“Not that I believe he’d be bad at it, but allowing it to overshadow the massive fundraising numbers announced this morning or the insane travel schedule he’s doing to keep the majority seems to be nothing short of trying to drive a contrived narrative,” he wrote.
Johnson also told Fox News that he is going to be the Speaker in the next Congress, when asked if he will run for minority leader if Republicans lose the House.
“I’m not going to talk about the scenario where we don’t win the House, because I am laser focused on winning the House,” he said.
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