How Speaker Johnson Is Navigating a Restive House Republican Conference

‘I think he has handled the day-to-day, the tense, difficult, and sometimes unpredictable environment in a very good, metered way,’ one lawmaker says.

Illustration by The Epoch Times, Getty Images, Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

WASHINGTON—Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, first met a young Mike Johnson “way back when” in their home state of Louisiana. He helped Mr. Johnson gain his footing as an attorney and said he still talks regularly with the now-speaker of the House.

“He jokes that when I was in office, he used to carry my briefcase. I can’t vouch for that, but I'll take him at his word,” Mr. Perkins told The Epoch Times with a chuckle, referring to his years as a Bayou State Republican legislator, starting in 1994.