[14] Joe Aguillard, accused by a university vice president of misappropriating money and lying to the board, blamed Johnson's resignation for the law school's failure.

The court ruled in favor of Answers in Genesis, saying the state's exclusion of the ark from the tourism tax incentive based on its "religious purpose and message" violated the First Amendment.

"[23][24] In September 2016, Johnson summarized his legal career as "defending religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and biblical values, including the defense of traditional marriage, and other ideals like these when they've been under assault".

[31][32] Governor Bobby Jindal pledged to sign Johnson's bill into law if it passed the legislature, commenting in a New York Times editorial that "musicians, caterers, photographers and others should be immune from government coercion on deeply held religious convictions".

[35] Other politicians also objected, including Republican Baton Rouge Metro Councilman John Delgado, who called Johnson a "despicable bigot of the highest order" for proposing the bill.

[82] Later that day, he also met with President Joe Biden for the first time as speaker before attending a bipartisan briefing held at the White House on the administration's proposed funding requests for aid to Ukraine and Israel.

[89] On November 17, Johnson announced that 44,000 hours of security footage from the January 6 United States Capitol attack, all of which had previously only been available upon request from criminal defendants and the media, would be released to the general public.

The bill's passage, and the decision to rely on Democratic votes to get it through, led representative Marjorie Taylor Greene to file a motion to vacate Johnson's speakership.

[121] He said, "We'll be back in session immediately after the election" and that Congress would address "specific needs and requests based upon the actual damages" of the hurricane, which "takes a while to calculate".

[133] In a Washington Times editorial, former Republican speaker Newt Gingrich wrote that he was "deeply impressed" with Johnson, who he believes is "doing an excellent job" despite having "the most challenging speakership since the Civil War".

[143] In December 2020, Johnson led an effort in which 126 Republican U.S. representatives signed an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania,[141][144][145] a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election.

[146] 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.

[150] The New York Times called Johnson "the most important architect of the Electoral College objections" because he had argued to reject the results based on the argument of "constitutional infirmity" and persuaded "about three-quarters" of the objectors to use that rationale.

[143] On May 19, 2021, Johnson and all other seven Republican House leaders in the 117th Congress voted against establishing a national commission to investigate the January 6, 2021, storming of the United States Capitol.

[4] In 2015, Johnson wrote on Facebook that "Donald Trump ... lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House", adding: "I am afraid he would break more things than he fixes.

With the first comprehensive tax reform in 31 years, we will dramatically strengthen the U.S. economy and restore economic mobility and opportunity for hardworking individuals and families all across this country.

[181] In 2016, Johnson delivered a sermon that called the teaching of evolution one of the causes of mass shootings: "People say, 'How can a young person go into their schoolhouse and open fire on their classmates?'

The report called for tougher sanctions on companies and individuals affiliated with the People's Liberation Army as well as the expansion of trade with countries such as Taiwan, Indonesia and Mongolia to counter China.

Before 2023, he introduced two bills about China; one that would ban former members of the United States Congress from lobbying for communist entities and another to forbid foreign governments from funding litigation in U.S.

In April 2024, Johnson put forward a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine that contained no border-related provision, which passed in Congress with bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Biden.

[200] In April 2024, Johnson criticized pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. university campuses, saying he was determined "that Congress will not be silent as Jewish students are expected to run for their lives and stay home from their classes hiding in fear.

"[205] As of 2023, Johnson had "introduced legislation three times aimed at tightening the asylum system, including by raising the bar on undocumented immigrants to establish their claim of fear of persecution".

[206] In January 2024, Johnson opposed a bipartisan, Senate Republican-backed border security and immigration bill that would also provide funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.

[190][191][207] In 2023, Johnson co-sponsored legislation declaring that human life and personhood begin at conception with no exception for in-vitro fertilization treatments involving embryos or embryonic stem-cell research.

[214] In 2023, Andrew Kaczynski of CNN wrote that Johnson "has a history of harsh anti-gay language from his time as an attorney for a socially conservative legal group in the mid-2000s".

Kaczynski pointed to editorials Johnson wrote in the early 2000s in his local paper, The Shreveport Times, calling homosexuality "inherently unnatural" and a "dangerous lifestyle".

[215][157][216][217] In a 2003 article, Johnson wrote: "Homosexuals do not meet the criteria for a suspect class under the equal protection clause because they are neither disadvantaged nor identified on the basis of immutable characteristics, as all are capable of changing their abnormal lifestyles.

[215] Johnson opposed the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas, which held that most criminal punishment of private sexual conduct between consenting adults is unconstitutional.

"[215] In 2005, Johnson campaigned against GLSEN's annual anti-bullying Day of Silence, telling NBC News: "that's cloaking their real message—that homosexuality is good for society".

"[229] In April 2018, Johnson joined Republican state Attorney General Jeff Landry and Christian actor Kirk Cameron to argue under the First Amendment for student-led prayer and religious expression in public schools.