Becoming the House Clerk

Johnson said Nancy Pelosi called her in 2018 to tell her she wanted Johnson to become the House clerk. Johnson’s initial response to Pelosi’s suggestion was “What is the Clerk of the House?” She already loved her job at the Smithsonian.

But the more Johnson learned about the position and after talking with former clerks, the more humbled and honored she felt about the potential appointment.

So on Jan. 3, 2021, Johnson was sworn in by Pelosi as the 36th individual to serve as the House Clerk and calls the job an unbelievable experience.  She is the second Black person and fourth woman to serve as clerk.

“It’s a very partisan time in the country,” Johnson said. “But [in] this organization, there are people who are committed to the institution. They don’t care who controls the House, or their thing is to make certain that the House operates and that members are able to fulfill their constitutional duties on a daily basis.”

Johnson oversees a staff of 240 people from reporters to historians across eight institutions. Some things about Johnson’s job are consistent. Every morning at 7 a.m. she receives an email saying that all the voting machines on the House floor are ready to operate. At 2 p.m., she’ll visit the House floor and confirm that all senators have their voting cards.

A lot of pressure lies on Johnson and her staff because accuracy is a crucial part of the job.. She has legislative operatives who tally the House’s votes and read all the bills. Her stenographers transcribe every committee hearing verbatim before the copy editor and reading editor to check for accuracy.

But there are some things about Johnson’s job that aren’t structured and unprecedented, like this year’s Speaker of the House election where folks were focused on her because she was reporting everything that was happening.

“This isn’t an incident where you’re at the Grammys, and you say the winner is one person, and then you come back and say, ‘Oh, no,’” Johnson said. “ Because when you announce who the speaker is, that’s who the speaker is. So those numbers have to be accurate … There were a lot of people behind me, behind the scenes, tallying those votes.”

Price, one of Johnson’s sorority sisters, said she admires how Johnson handled the election as it was televised on national television.

“She didn’t let them fluster her,” Price said. “She didn’t get upset. Some of those people were getting a little raucous in the air, but she handled herself very well.”

Price also called Johnson a family-oriented person and caring person, which she thinks are two characteristics that help her excel in her work.

While the job can be unpredictable, and she doesn’t always know when her or her staff will leave work, her favorite part of the job is interacting with Congress and other staff.

“I think members of Congress get a bad rap,” Johnson said. “They really are here to do a good job for the American people. When they are not here in Washington, they are still at home, working, and just hearing how hard they work for the American people is exciting.”