The new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, either doesn’t have a bank account in his family’s name, or he has less than $1,000 in whatever account he might have. Either way, it is a dire security threat, besides being just weird.
Mike Johnson is an odd duck, to be sure. But this is as odd as a duck wearing boots.
According to The Daily Beast, members of Congress must report any account in which they have more than $1,000. Johnson has been in Congress since 2016 and hasn’t reported having a bank account in his or his wife’s name at any point in that time period.
This is, of course, deeply concerning.
He is second in line to the presidency and must have money somewhere. But it shouldn’t be this complicated.
Johnson made roughly $170,000 a year as a regular Congress critter. That salary represents about $70,000 more than what most of us would consider a good-paying job.
He makes another $30,000 teaching an online class at the far-right Christian Liberty University. Nice gig, Mike. We are all positive you work very hard preparing for that class.
His congressional salary and the Liberty job put him at $200,000. Johnson’s wife also works for two different entities.
An extremely conservative estimate puts Johnson’s income at a quarter of a million a year. Any household that brings in $250,000 a year should be able to handle four new tires if the need suddenly comes about.
It is nice to have a bank account with more than $1,000 if you are at Walmart looking at four tires.
Johnson either doesn’t have an account with more than $1,000 or is not reporting his savings. Additionally, if one combines every account in his household, none of them are above $5,000.
Either way, Johnson just became a huge security risk because he’s either broke or he’s hiding money. Someone could easily take advantage of his situation.
Thankfully, “poor” Mike is about to get a raise. Beyond the pay raises that Congress granted itself in the stopgap bill, the Speaker of the House makes $223,000 annually, or about $50,000 more than Johnson made last year.
Maybe he put his name in for the Speaker vote because he needed the money.
According to The Daily Beast’s new report:
“Of course, it’s unlikely Johnson doesn’t actually have a bank account. What’s more likely is Johnson lives paycheck to paycheck—so much so that he doesn’t have enough money in his bank account to trigger the checking account disclosure rules for members of Congress.”
If your household income is more than $200,000 and you are living paycheck to paycheck, you don’t possess the judgment to manage the United States’ bank account.
Ironically, all financial appropriations must begin in the House.
Or maybe he keeps his money in the Cayman Islands. The Daily Beast article doesn’t raise the possibility, but we’re in an age where it’s nearly impossible to be too cynical.
Picking up again from the Daily Beast report:
“It’s certainly not uncommon for Americans to have less than $5,000 in their bank account… Most Americans—57 percent—couldn’t handle an unexpected $1,000 expense, according to a report earlier this year. And the median amount that Americans keep in their bank account is $5,300. But Johnson’s household income puts him in the top 12 percent of earners in the United States. And it’s extraordinarily rare for members of Congress to not list a qualifying bank account—let alone zero assets whatsoever.”
Something is off.
Jordan Libowitz, communications director for watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, states:
“It’s strange to see Speaker Johnson disclose no assets. He made over $200,000 last year, and his wife took home salary from two employers as well, so why isn’t there a bank account or any form of savings listed?”
“He owes hundreds of thousands of dollars between a mortgage, personal loan, and home equity line of credit, so where did that money go? If he truly has no bank account and no assets, it raises questions about his personal financial wellbeing.”
Maybe he could get some money from MBS? The Saudi Arabian leader is quite charitable toward far-right authoritarian MAGAs.
That is the point, though. When one undergoes a background check to get a clearance for top-secret SAP programs — which the Speaker certainly needs, they check one’s financial stability.
Even though Trump gives out nuclear submarine information for free, it’s not ideal to have a House Speaker who will hand over a file for $250.
It is possible that he tithes and gives a lot of money away to charity if he’s sincere in his beliefs. But one would think that he’d save enough to put down $5,000 for braces for one of the kids. Those little far-right rascals are cute.
Someone needs to investigate this. He surely has money somewhere. He has a mortgage on a home worth between $250,000 and $500,000 — money to pay the mortgage must come from somewhere.
The fact that it is hard to find is an issue.
This column is based on original reporting by Roger Sollenberger of The Daily Beast
I can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com and on X @JasonMiciak.
Editor’s note: This is an opinion column that solely reflects the opinions of the author.