Uncivil war: How Speaker Mike Johnson’s dream of bipartisan decency died in his hands

Snowed in at a Colonial Williamsburg hotel.

No, this is not the start of a Hallmark holiday movie.

Instead, it’s the story of Congress’ 2017 freshman class that, days after being sworn into office, bonded in a most bipartisan fashion over a shared vision for civility in government.

Leading the charge for courteousness and commonality: newly minted Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA).

“It turned into sort of like a summer camp experience because we were literally closed into the hotel. That actually turned out to be a great thing because we bonded very well as a class,” said Johnson — now speaker of the House and supporter of former President Donald Trump — when recalling the retreat at an event hosted by D.C. think tank, the Bipartisan Policy Center, in footage exclusively obtained by Raw Story.

From “Republican and Democrat, coast to coast, all states,” the 55 freshmen representatives gathered around a U-shaped table on the last day of the retreat for a parting discussion around the problem of divisiveness in American politics. They delayed their train rides home even “as the snow began to melt,” Johnson said.

“Every single member, regardless of their political persuasion, where they were on the political spectrum, virtually everyone said almost the same thing. They said ‘I’m sick of the tone of politics in our nation and in Washington, and you know what, I’d really like to do this differently. When I committed to run for office, I wanted to do this differently,’” Johnson said at the event.

Inspired by the retreat, Johnson drafted a “Commitment to Civility,” dated Jan. 10, 2017 — seven years ago this month — and signed by 46 of the freshman members of the 115th Congress, including the likes of Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and James Comer (R-KY). Later, the signers would grow to more than 120 members of Congress.

Together, they called out the nation’s challenges of “increasing division in and coarsening of our culture fueled too often by the vitriol in our politics and public discourse.”

They lamented the “loss of trust in our institutions and elected officials.”

They affirmed their belief in a “better alternative” — one involving “showing proper respect,” “encouraging productive dialogue and modeling civility in our public and private actions.”

Johnson didn’t stop there.

He and then-Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) joined together to create the Honor and Civility Caucus — a bipartisan body dedicated to improving “the tone of the nation’s politics and public discourse.”

They also proposed legislation for a National Day of Civility on July 12, inspired by the Biblical verse Matthew 7:12, according to a December 2017 press release. The bill gained 78 co-sponsors who promoted the legislation as part of a “Summer of Civility” campaign.

“As the nation’s leaders, members of Congress should aspire to the highest standards and set an example of personal integrity, decency and mutual respect for the generations of Americans that will follow,” said Johnson and Crist in a joint statement. “We can be stalwarts of our respective policy positions without tearing one another down.”

They continued: “Although the members of this caucus will represent both political parties and a wide range of individual views across the political spectrum, our belief is that we can disagree in an agreeable manner and maintain collegiality and the honor of our office. Our aim is to help reverse the increasing divisions in and coarsening of our culture.”

But as then-President Trump became an evermore divisive force and any remaining congressional comity eroded, Johnson's ambitions of harmony likewise started to dissipate.

Today, Johnson is defending “MAGA warriors” — a term he used in a fundraising email last week — and has endorsed Trump, who continues to blame Democrats for his legal troubles, including 91 felony charges across four criminal cases and his civil liability for sexual abuse and defamation against writer E. Jean Carroll.

As House speaker, Johnson appears to have kowtowed to the demands of far-right legislators such as Gaetz and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) who led the ouster of his predecessor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and are once again threatening a government shutdown over any bipartisan budget compromise.

A Raw Story analysis of congressional records and communications from Johnson explains how a man who fashioned himself a “winsome warrior” preaching unity could transform into a top Trump ally who casts bipartisan amity asunder.

What happened to the Honor and Civility Caucus?

The conduct of the current Congress is far from the model of civility that Johnson and his class of 2017 peers once dreamed.

This 118th Congress is replete with scenes of chaos, even violence:

• Ousted former Speaker McCarthy allegedly throwing elbows at a colleague.
• Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) threatening to fight a hearing witness during testimony in the U.S. Capitol.
• Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) pulling a fire alarm while the chamber was in session — and pleading guilty to a misdemeanor.
• Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) arguing his way into a headlock during House speaker votes in January 2023.
• The House kicking one of its own — Rep. George Santos (R-NY) — right out of Congress amid the lawmaker’s felony charges and parade of lies.

Just last week, a House Oversight Committee hearing devolved into a partisan mosh pit when President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, showed up and effectively dared the likes of Comer, Mace and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to let him publicly testify as part of a committee contempt of Congress hearing.

Political infighting has threatened to spark a partial government shutdown by the end of the week if Congress can’t pass bipartisan legislation around national spending — a chorus that was repeated throughout 2023.

“That's my great concern … that the people coming behind us, they're watching all the bad behavior, and that has become their model, and there's some real concern about that,” Johnson said at the Bipartisan Policy Center event in 2018. “They have to see grown-ups acting like grown-ups, and we do that by sparking the conversation.”

So what became of the Honor and Civility Caucus that Johnson co-created?

It seemingly has died, according to a Raw Story analysis of congressional records and information from congressional experts.

After Johnson and Crist announced the Honor and Civility Caucus in December 2017, the caucus reportedly held its first meeting shortly after in January 2018, aiming to build rapport through informal meetings, with the hope for future “bipartisan policy discussions,” according to Gray Television’s Washington News Bureau.

The caucus earned some initial media interest about the announcement of its formation. But in the months to come, the caucus offered little evidence that it was accomplishing much.

In fact, it began to fade almost as quickly as it materialized.

For example, while the Honor and Civility Caucus was registered with the Committee on House Administration for the 115th and 116th congressional sessions, spanning Jan. 3, 2017 to Jan. 3, 2021, it disappeared during the 117th and 118th sessions, according to the House Administration website.

“Based on our records, an Honor and Civility Caucus has not been registered for the 118th Congress,” Mary Beth Burns, press secretary for the Committee on House Administration, confirmed to Raw Story via email.

A Raw Story review of the Congressional Yellow Books — reference guides with contact and biographical information for members of Congress — showed Johnson listed as a co-chair of the caucus starting in the Spring 2017 volume through the Summer 2022 volume.

The House Administration's document on Congressional Member Organizations for the 116th Congress, lasting from Jan. 3, 2019 to Jan. 3, 2021, lists Johnson and Crist as co-chairs, alongside Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO).

Cleaver’s congressional office acknowledged receipt of Raw Story’s questions but did not offer comment.

Johnson’s congressional office did not respond to Raw Story’s multiple requests for comment.

Crist declined to comment when Raw Story reached him by phone.

Other 'civility' efforts

While caucuses are considered “informal member groups,” they do require formal registration with House Administration and designation of their leaders, said Gideon Cohn-Postar, legislative director at bipartisan political reform group Issue One.

“They're always a residue of the members’ power and money and enthusiasm,” Cohn-Postar said. “These kinds of caucuses, they take action when the members who lead them and the staff who they designate to take on that project are interested in pursuing them.”

It’s not uncommon for there to be entirely separate caucuses bearing similar names that generally don’t collaborate — and they often don’t accomplish much legislatively, Cohn-Postar said.

The Congressional Civility and Respect Caucus and Congressional Civility Caucus are two examples of similar caucuses in recent years.

“Civility is not the absence of conflict. It’s actually facilitating genuine debate so the best solutions and policies can emerge,” said John Hart, a former communications director for late-Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and co-founder of the Conservative Coalition for Climate Solutions. “If the caucus helps members organize around that idea, it can be very valuable and worthwhile.”

The charge for a National Day of Civility got another push in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when Crist and Johnson’s legislation was reintroduced in July 2020.

“Now more than ever, it is crucial that we as a nation put politics aside to pull through this moment of unprecedented crisis," Crist said in a July 16, 2020 press release.

Crist and Johnson were joined by other supporters such as Cleaver and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), according to the release.

“In challenging times, Americans have always found a way to rise of above our disagreements and unite for the greater good of our nation. The coronavirus pandemic is no exception,” Johnson said in the release. “So many Americans – from our health care providers to essential workers to the everyday heroes making a positive impact in our communities – have shown what it means to treat their fellow citizens with dignity and respect.”

Raw Story reached out to more than a dozen current members of Congress who signed the Commitment to Civility in 2017.

Most did not respond to Raw Story’s inquiry or declined to comment. One who did — Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) — defended Johnson’s character.

“I’ve maintained my commitment to civility. That’s one reason why I was rated by Common Ground Committee as the most bipartisan member of Congress for three years in a row and No. two of 535 this year. And, Speaker Johnson is one the most civil people I know,” Bacon said in a statement to Raw Story.

Bacon signed the commitment in 2017 and was a co-sponsor of legislation to create the National Day of Civility, which has yet to become reality legislatively.

What’s changed since 2017?

In some notable ways, the actions of 2017-vintage Rep. Mike Johnson bear little resemblance to those of Speaker Mike Johnson today.

Johnson recently endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2024. Fundraising emails bearing Johnson’s name have taken on a decidedly divisive and partisan tone compared to his statements around the Commitment to Civility and Honor and Civility Caucus when he first joined Congress and even as recently as 2020.

“Not only do the Democrats want to give every illegal immigrant free healthcare, a house, and a government job. They want to let them vote as well,” said a Dec. 19 email from the National Republican Congressional Committee authored by Johnson. “This is the Democrats' electoral strategy headed into 2024, and it’s also the biggest scandal of our lifetime.”

Red donation buttons bearing phrases such as “STOP THE DEMOCRATS- SUPPORT ELECTION INTEGRITY” are interspersed throughout the email.

An email from Johnson on Nov. 7, paid for by Team Scalise, a joint fundraising committee for House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) has a yellow highlighted section saying, “You know what would happen if Democrats take control of the House: our strong border security bill will come to a SCREECHING HALT, our plan to secure our elections will be SCRAPPED, we will LOSE subpoena power, Liberals will TAKE OVER all House committees, and our impeachment inquiry will go UP IN FLAMES…”

A Jan. 11 email from Johnson on behalf of Team Elise, a joint fundraising committee for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), called her “one of the most effective MAGA warriors in the people’s House.”

“That’s why the radical Left is targeting her with a disgusting smear campaign to drag her name through the mud and DESTROY her credibility,” the email read.

Johnson’s congressional office did not respond to Raw Story’s specific questions about the hyper-partisan and divisive language seen in such emails.

Even before his “Commitment to Civility” days, Johnson might have shown his true colors when he became too right-wing for his own parents, not compromising on hearing them out on their environmental concerns about a toxic burn site, The Guardian reported in December.

And these days, Johnson increasingly finds himself in a political squeeze — an enemy to most Democrats and a target of the same far-right Republicans who orchestrated McCarthy’s political demise.

Those far-right members of Congress continue to push on Johnson — with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) reportedly “going at it” with Johnson and Freedom Caucus members cyberbullying him. Johnson’s most urgent test: pass a congressional budget deal without torpedoing his own speakership.

What advice might Mike Johnson of a few years ago offer the Mike Johnson of today?

“All of us are fighting for our core principles. We compromise preferences often. We never compromise our core principles, and the people that sent us here would not have us do that. We're fighting every day, but we're trying to be winsome warriors,” Johnson said at the Bipartisan Policy Center event in 2018. “I can't control what everybody else does, but I can control my own actions. That's what I teach my children. I should be doing the same thing.”