Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is one of the House of Representatives’ least wealthy members, according to federal financial disclosures reviewed by Raw Story.
Johnson, who won the speakership Wednesday with 220 votes from the entire GOP caucus three weeks after the ouster of former Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), reported no assets on his latest annual report filed on Aug. 11. He also reported no assets on his 2021 report as well.
Johnson, an ally of former President Donald Trump who opposed certifying the 2020 election, stands in contrast to Trump, whose multi-billion-dollar business empire is currently being questioned in a New York civil fraud case.
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He's also a financial anomaly among his congressional colleagues, half of whom have historically been millionaires, according to nonprofit research organization OpenSecrets. Many members of Congress also boast massive stock, bond, private business and commercial real estate portfolios.
Johnson reported three liabilities with Citizens National Bank on his most recent financial disclosure, which covers calendar year 2022: a mortgage valued at between $250,001 and $500,000; a personal loan between $15,001 and $50,000; and a home equity line of credit between $15,001 and $50,000.
Johnson reported earning $29,890 in 2022 from teaching online classes at Liberty University, a private evangelical Christian university affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. The Department of Education alleges that the university did not comply with the Clery Act by discouraging crime reporting and failing to warn about gas leaks, bomb threats and a senior administrator, athlete and others credibly accused of sexual violence on campus, The Washington Post reported.
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Federal law does not require lawmakers to disclose their personal residence or its value on annual financial disclosure reports, and Johnson did not volunteer this information.
He also noted his spouse earned salaries from Onward Christian Education Services and the Louisiana Right to Life Education Committee, but he did not specify the amounts. Previously, his spouse earned $35,383 from the former in 2020 and $36,400 in 2019, according to federal disclosures.
Johnson was elected to the U.S. House in 2017. When he filed his first candidate report in June 2016, he reported a Fidelity retirement account in the $1,001 to $15,000 range, along with his salary of $128,316 from Kitchens Law Firm, $37,216 in legal fees from his own law office and a $25,000 salary from the Louisiana House of Representatives.
He reported a Thrift Savings Plan from 2017 through 2020, which grew to the $15,001 to $50,000 range by 2020. But the plan no longer appeared on his 2021 and 2022 annual reports. He noted a $10,485 IRA distribution on his 2017 report.
All members of Congress are required to file annual financial disclosure reports as well as periodic reports within 45 days of any purchases, sales and exchanges of stocks, bonds, commodity futures, securities and cryptocurrencies. Johnson has never reported owning any individual stocks.
Johnson’s congressional office did not immediately respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.
