Louisiana GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy had nothing but warm words for new Speaker Mike Johnson — and know their state is in a powerful position with Steve Scalise retaining the second spot at the House leadership table.
“He’s extremely smart,” Kennedy told POLITICO about Johnson. “He plays well with others. He gets along with everybody. He has a really great work ethic. He’s very conservative, devout Christian, and he does some of the best impersonations you can imagine.”
“I’m told he’s impersonated me before but I’ve never seen it,” Kennedy added.
Cassidy highlighted that only Johnson was able to get the votes to become speaker.
“I know him very well,” Cassidy said in an interview Wednesday. “If he has a weakness, he’s going to do his homework in terms of how to address that weakness. His strength is that he clearly has the ability to bridge divides that a lot of very capable people were unable to bridge.”
Both acknowledged the unusual position of having two Louisianans atop House leadership would benefit their state.
“They’re very respectful. Neither one of them are screamers,” Kennedy said. “Mike’s got his work cut out.”
Cassidy said he thought their elevation would benefit the state in areas like coastal resiliency, where you “actually save money for the federal government if you take a Louisiana perspective.”
“It’s obviously good for Louisiana. But make no mistake about it: The big states pull more than their weight, [too],” he added.
Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.
