WASHINGTON (TNS) — House Clerk Cheryl Johnson has become an unlikely folk hero in Washington this week, running the lower chamber of Congress with a steady hand as Republicans struggle to elect a speaker amid historic chaos.
Deploying only her own custom gavel and gently chiding words, Johnson has guided the House through multiple rounds of voting on live TV, pushing back when members of both parties get off topic or step out of line.
Her calm but stern demeanor has earned high marks on Capitol Hill and social media, where a number of people, including a member of Congress, have joked that lawmakers should just elect her speaker.
“Cheryl Johnson, the clerk of the House, for Speaker?” tweeted Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California on Thursday. “She’s been extraordinary without any rules passed and in having some sense of fairness and order.”
Two members have even mistakenly addressed her as “Madam Speaker” instead of “Madam Clerk” in their remarks.
A little-known position outside the Capitol, the clerk is chosen by the members of Congress every two years, meaning Johnson’s job may be at risk now. Leaders in both parties say it will ultimately be up to the next speaker – whether that’s Kevin McCarthy or another Republican – to decide whether to reappoint her.
The job’s typical duties are the mundane but essential work of the House: preparing and delivering messages to the Senate, handling communications with the White House and certifying the passage of bills.
But the clerk occasionally is thrust into the spotlight. Along with the House Sergeant at Arms, Johnson twice was charged with hand-delivering articles of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate. And the clerk is nominally in charge of the House when it convenes for the first time.
Normally, that’s measured in minutes, with the clerk using a special 13-inch lacquered maple gavel taken out of storage just for that day until she hands over duties to the new speaker.
But Johnson has remained on the dais since Tuesday as McCarthy has repeatedly failed to get his own party to rally behind him as speaker, the first time that has gone to multiple rounds of ballots since 1923.
When a bystander noted that Johnson was getting a lot of attention this week, her response was dry and self-effacing: “I need that,” she said.
Then, seeing two security officers flanking her, she added, “They aren’t here for me.”
Although she was named as clerk by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2018, Johnson has a more bipartisan background than some of her predecessors. She had previously worked as an aide to a committee chaired by former Speaker John Boehner — who recalled her through a spokesman as “always nice” — and on initiatives to boost D.C. museums, such as the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
“She is living up to the reputation that led her to have this job in the first place,” said Danny Weiss, an ex-chief of staff to Johnson’s boss at the time former Rep. George Miller, a California Democrat, praising her “high degree of integrity” and lack of partisanship.
A native of New Orleans, Johnson graduated from the University of Iowa and earned a law degree from Howard University. She’s the second Black American to serve as House clerk and one of only four women to hold the job since 1789.
