The Political Action Committees (PACs) of Northrop Grumman [NOC] and L3Harris Technologies [LHX] were among the top 20 donors to Rep. Mike Johnson’s [R-La.] campaign committee for the 2021-22 election cycle.
Both PACs gave $10,000 to Johnson’s campaign committee during the cycle, and the Northrop Grumman PAC contributed another $5,000 to Johnson’s leadership PAC—the “American Revival PAC.”
Leadership PACs are fundraising tools for candidates to help other candidates, and such PACs often contribute to their parties’ incumbents or challengers in close races. As such, lawmakers whose leadership PACs raise and distribute large dollar amounts can be in line for congressional leadership positions.
The two top congressional leadership PACs for 2021-22 were former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) “Majority Committee PAC,” which gave more than $2.3 million to GOP candidates in the cycle, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) “Eye of the Tiger PAC,” which gave more than $2.1 million to Republican candidates.
House Republicans elevated the 51-year-old Johnson as House speaker on Oct. 25. Johnson, who was one of 139 House Republicans to object to the certification of electoral votes for President Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021, is the first House speaker from Louisiana.
The anointing of the fourth term Southern Baptist by all 220 House Republicans came after the GOP ousted McCarthy as speaker on Oct. 3, and three other candidates then failed to secure the 217 votes needed to realize their candidacies—Scalise, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).
Emmer’s leadership PAC—“Electing Majority Making Effective Republicans”—was the 14th highest leadership PAC giver to candidates in 2021-22 out of 740 such leadership PACs. Emmer’s leadership PAC donated $557,500 to other candidates in 2021-22. Jordan’s leadership PAC was 554th on the list, as the “Buckeye Liberty PAC” gave a relatively paltry $12,800 to other GOP candidates in 2021-22.
Johnson’s “American Revival PAC” gave $108,600 to other candidates in 2021-22—220th on the list of 740 leadership PACs.
Johnson has served as the vice chairman of the Republican Conference in charge of GOP messaging in the House and has been a member of the House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) Readiness and Seapower Subcommittees.
At a news conference with fellow Republicans late on Oct. 25 after Johnson’s election as speaker, Johnson declined to answer a reporter’s question on his support for overturning the 2020 election, and House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), 80, yelled at the reporter to “shut up.”
As speaker, Johnson has pledged passage of a continuing resolution to keep the government open through January 15 or April 15 to finish action on the House appropriations bills and to “ensure that the Senate cannot jam the House with a Christmas omnibus” spending package (Defense Daily, Oct. 25).
The new speaker has not disclosed how he plans to proceed on the White House’s $106 billion emergency aid package last week, a proposal that includes weapons aid for Israel and Ukraine.
In 2021-22, Johnson’s campaign committee received $25,000—the committee’s top donation–from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The $25,000 included $15,000 from people associated with AIPAC and $10,000 from AIPAC’s PAC.