In 2017, first-term Congressman Mike Johnson arrived in Congress asking other members to sign a civility pledge.
On Friday April 9, Johnson was in Eunice to accept artwoark by Zach Soileau depicting the Liberty Theatre and commented on the state of civility in the Capitol.
“Tough right now,” he said. “I was explaining this to a group last night. There has been a real change in the atmosphere on Capitol Hill. It is hyper-partisan. It is toxic almost. It is very difficult to get people to work together even within our own party, much less across the aisle. There are some members on both side that hold grudges against the others and so they are deterring bipartisanship.”
Johnson, a Republican from Benton, has risen in the ranks of the House Republic leadership and is now vice chairman of the House Republican Conference — the third ranking Republican leadership post — assistant minority whip. Fellow Louisiana lawmaker Rep. Steve Scalise is minority whip.
Johnson thinks it is the first time that Louisiana has had two congressmen in the top House party leadership posts.
Johnson also thinks Republicans will regain the majority in the House in the 2022 elections.
But for now, Johnson’s third term is in a sharp partisan landscape.
“For example, if I get a moderate Democrat who wants to work with me on something, they get criticized by their own colleagues who are further left on the scale on the spectrum,” he said.
“I can tell a difference between when I arrived there in January 2017 and today,” he said.
The divide makes if difficult to get co-sponsors from the other side of the aisle, he said.
“This is on both sides of the aisle because in the advent of social media and the advent of the cultural wars and everything else those who are seen as people who want to work with the other side, it is not rewarded anymore. It is now something that becomes a political liability,” he said.
The Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol was a jarring and heart-breaking experience, he said.
“I wasn’t fearful. I’ve explained it to people as just being profoundly saddened by the event,” he said.
Johnson’s 15-parish 4th Congressional District includes two major military installations, Fort Polk and Barksdale Air Force Base.
Fort Polk is the Joint Readiness Training Center and Barksdale is home to the 2nd Bomb Wing and the Global Strike Command.
Two-thirds of nation’s nuclear triad is commanded from Barksdale and all branches train at Fort Polk, he said.
Both installations are positioned for the future, he said.
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Harlan Kirgan
LSN Editor