[2] Born in Roseboro, North Carolina, Johnson entered the United States Air Force after graduating from high school in 1973.

Following his retirement in 1999 at the rank of lieutenant colonel, Johnson co-founded Johnson-Schley Management Group, an information technology consulting company, before leaving to form J2 Business Solutions, where he was a defense contractor to the U.S. military.

[8] After his service in the military, he co-founded Johnson-Schley Management Group, an information technology (IT) consulting company that increased revenues by more than 200% in three years under his leadership.

[citation needed] In 2014, Johnson faced Democratic nominee Jennifer Garrison, a former State Representative and lawyer from Marietta, Ohio.

[citation needed] Johnson was reelected to a fourth term in the 2016 general election, defeating Democrat Michael Lorentz, the mayor of Belpre, Ohio, 71%–29%.

[17] His appointment was met with protests over his record as an election denier, his support for Trump's so-called "Muslim ban," and his opposition to LGBT rights, as well as the lack of transparency of the hiring process.

[35] As protesters called for the removal of statues deemed racist, Johnson authored an opinion piece for The Washington Examiner titled "Our History Can Safeguard our Future".

In his piece, Johnson opposed the toppling of statues, writing, "To really unify our country, we must pause and consider our history to provide context for our current national dialogue.

"[36] In a candidates' questionnaire in 2010, Johnson wrote, "I am pro-life, and I oppose abortion except in the case of rape, incest, and when the mother's life is in danger.

[42][43] From the beginning,[44] Johnson supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, characterizing it as necessary to prevent terrorist attacks.

[46] On December 18, 2019, Johnson held a moment of silence to remember Trump voters during House debates on articles of impeachment, saying, "This is a sad day for America.

[48][49] In December 2020, Johnson was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Trump.

[50] The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.