On Jan. 3, anti-LGBTQ+ Republican Mike Johnson of Louisiana was re-elected to the U.S. House speakership on a first ballot, thanks in part to the support of President-elect Donald Trump.
The AP revealed that Trump called all three GOP lawmakers who had opposed Johnson’s re-election. U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman—a Republican who changed his vote to Johnson after initially opposing him—said the Trump’s argument was simple: “Mike’s the only one who can be elected.” Texas Rep. Keith Self and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie were the other two GOP holdouts.
Johnson promised that the next Congress will “drastically cut back the size and scope of government” and called the so-called administrative state a “totalitarian” force he intends to curtail.
Johnson has a long history of anti-LGBTQ+ comments and actions. Last Nov. 20—the Transgender Day of Remembrance—he announced a policy barring trans people from using restrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms aligned with their gender identity in the U.S. Capitol and House Office Buildings, Windy City Times noted, citing The Advocate. South Carolina Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace admitted that her proposed resolution—which specifically aimed to ban trans women from women’s restrooms in the Capitol—was “absolutely” in response to the election of trans Congresswoman Sarah McBride (D-Delaware).