Under House Speaker Mike Johnson last week, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan resolution (412-10) supporting Israel and condemning Hamas. Nine of the ten "nay" votes were Democrats, including "Squad" members who have condemned Israel. The resolution went on to condemn Iran's support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and urged sanctions against Iran to be fully enforced.
Jonathan Alexandre, senior counsel for governmental affairs at Liberty Counsel Action, found Johnson's quick action encouraging.
"I think it was even within 2-1/2 hours of him receiving the Speaker gavel [that] they were able to move on this critical resolution that hopefully sets up Congress in the next few days to pass comprehensive supplemental funding to support Israel's defense," Alexandre tells AFN.
"[This was] a strong move from a speaker, of course; a timely move; long-needed, I think. Obviously, this could have happened three weeks ago when the atrocity occurred [on October 7], but at least for his first item on the job, this is something that the Speaker got behind and was able to push."
The head of the Georgia-based Faith & Freedom Coalition expects more of the same from Johnson – and not just when it comes to Israel.
"We want to protect innocent life. We want to provide religious liberties. We want to support the traditional family," says Timothy Head, referring to his group's agenda. "[And] we want to certainly, on days like this, support one of our strongest allies internationally in Israel. You couldn't find a more kind of clarion voice on those issues than Speaker Johnson now."
Head expects the new Speaker's Christian faith is going to have a huge impact on how he handles House business.
"He's definitely known throughout the House and the Senate in Washington, DC, as being one of the most committed evangelical Christians on the entire Hill," Head states. "There are probably not ten people more known for their Christian faith – and there are public policy implications for that. But I think also just the way he's going to run his office and the way he is going to handle life as a Speaker of the House [will have an impact]."
Since Johnson's election as Speaker, liberal media outlets and others on the Left have accused him of being "a Christian nationalist" who will "enforce his brand of right-wing Christianity" on the country.
