House Speaker Mike Johnson’s D.C. Stay at Pastor’s Home

Speaker of the House and House Representative for Louisiana's 4th district, Mike Johnson is spending a lot of time in Washington D.C. now with his role as House Speaker, 1,194 miles away from home.

A new report from ProPublica has uncovered where Speaker Johnson is staying while away from the Pelican State.

State and Church

Speaker Johnson is well known as a staunch Christian, so it's not too surprising to learn that the Speaker has been staying with a high-profile pastor at Capitol Hill.

According to interviews and videos obtained by ProPublica Speaker Johnson has been staying with Pastor Steve Berger at his 6-bedroom D.C. townhouse. Johnson isn't alone in being welcomed to the home of Pastor Berger, as ProPublica has reported that fellow evangelical republican Dan Bishop stayed with Berger and his wife for a period of time last year.

A spokesman for Johnson was quick to clear the air on any confusion about the housing situation. The spokesperson said that Johnson is paying a "fair market value" for his rent, which would fall within the House Ethics Committee's rules around housing.

Who Is Pastor Steve Berger

Steve Berger is a Pastor who founded Grace Chapel in Tennesee. Berger has been a controversial figure in the past, going back to 2019 when he authored a paper in response to a commercial running at the time featuring the son of the 40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan, Ron Reagan declaring the importance of the separation of church and state.

The paper was titled Truth About the Separation between Church and State and it directly attacked the claims made in the commercial. Berger brings quotes from the founding fathers in an attempt to prove that at the nation's founding the intent to be a Christian country has been a part of America since its founding.

Berger espouses that America has a "Christian-inspired government," and that secular practices have been encroaching on what Berger claims the Founding Fathers intended. Berger states that America "has had ONE form of government since 1776" which is untrue as originally the Founding Fathers first signed and the 13 colonies ratified the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, which established a confederal government, the Articles of Confederation was replaced with the U.S. Constitution after being ratified in 1789. In its history, America has had two forms of Government.

Most concerning to some was the general message of Berger's paper, stating that "Separation Between Church and State is a delusional lie," which again is untrue as in 1791 the nation ratified a piece of legislation that declared "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"

That piece of legislation is known today as the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and unequivocally shuts down the claims that there is not an intended separation of Church and Government.