ICYMI: Speaker Johnson Sits for Wide-Ranging Interview in Louisiana with CBS’ Robert Costa

WASHINGTON - This weekend, CBS News' Robert Costa joined Speaker Johnson in LA-04 as he met constituents along stops throughout his Congressional district. During the visit, Speaker Johnson sat with CBS for an extensive interview to discuss House Republican achievements in the 119th Congress and the midterm elections.

"We gave the largest tax cut in U.S. history, and we also did the largest cut of inefficient, wasteful government spending in history. We have economic indicators across the board; more people are doing better, with higher wages. In my state of Louisiana, just with the Working Families Tax Cuts, the average Louisianian has a tax cut of $2,915. That's money in their pocket they did not have to send to Washington. The average household income went up by almost $5,400 just because of our policies. We also have the lowest violent crime rate in 126 years. We have a secure border," Speaker Johnson said.

"Not a single Democrat in Congress voted for any of that. It was all Republicans… Now, here's the question. Do you want to turn the country back over, the governance in Congress over, to the people who brought you $5 gasoline under Biden and Harris and 40-year high inflation at 9.1%? I don't think so."

Watch the full interview here.

On House Republicans' closing message:

We are bringing down the cost of living. We are providing more jobs and opportunity for more people. The facts show it and the records show it. We gave the largest tax cut in US history, and we also did the largest cut of inefficient, wasteful government spending in history. We have economic indicators across the board; more people are doing better, higher wages. In my state of Louisiana, just with the big, beautiful bill, the Working Families Tax Cuts, the average Louisianian has a tax cut of $2,915. That's money in their pocket they did not have to send to Washington just because we implemented the bill. The average household income went up by almost $5,400 just because of our policies.

We also have the lowest violent crime rate in 126 years. We have a secure border. We've not released a single illegal alien into the country in 16 straight months. We have more jobs, more opportunity. We created a million private sector jobs in the last 19 months in this country. The success goes on and on. Lowest prescription drug costs in 60 years. That's because we did what we said we were going do, and you have to keep those commonsense principles and policies going because we have much more to do ahead of us.

On the contrast between the Republican and Democrat economic agenda:

If you look across the board objectively as economists do, we have incredible economic growth. We are reshoring American manufacturing. We're bringing jobs back here to this country. As I'm traveling around in the swing districts, people are feeling that. They're feeling the effect. We cut taxes on tips, overtime, Social Security. In this state, almost 68% of our workforce gets a huge benefit from no taxes on overtime. We have 700,000 senior citizens no longer paying taxes on their Social Security - that's because of the legislation that we passed. Not a single Democrat in Congress voted for any of that. It was all Republicans. Now, here's the question. Do you want to turn the country back over, the governance in Congress over, to the people who brought you $5 gasoline under Biden and Harris and 40-year high inflation at 9.1%? I don't think so.

On Republican efforts to protect local communities from energy rate hikes and continue SI development:

The infrastructure for SI is important for national security, and we have to continue it, but it must be done in a way that heeds and respects community concerns. People are rightly concerned about all this. We passed, for example, the Ratepayer Protection Act out of the House right before we left for this district work period. We sent it over to the Senate with only three dissenting votes. It was a bipartisan vote. And the Senate Democrats blocked it. The solution is to have common sense and steady hands at the wheel, address this new technology in a way that harnesses its potential for the American people, but also ensures that we don't over-regulate it, have government stop it with a moratorium, and then lose that race to China. That would be devastating for our country.