Where does Speaker Mike Johnson sleep when he's in DC? Most likely in his Capitol Hill office

• Speaker Mike Johnson is less wealthy than most lawmakers and doesn't appear to have a DC residence.
• Several people told Insider that he likely sleeps in his office, like many other lawmakers.

President Joe Biden has the White House. Vice President Kamala Harris has the Naval Observatory. But where does the man who just recently ascended to the next spot in the line of succession sleep when he's in Washington, DC?

Most likely in his small congressional office on the unglamorous, fluorescent-lit fifth floor of the Cannon House Office Building, according to several lawmakers and a long-time friend of Rep. Mike Johnson, the new speaker of the House.

Two lawmakers with nearby offices told Insider this week that they believe Johnson sleeps there, though they cautioned that they didn't know it with absolute certainty.

But Johnson's new security detail is something of a giveaway.

"Gathering from the amount of time that the police are there from early morning to late in the day, I suspect it's probably true," said one of the lawmakers, who added that they had been "repeatedly" told by colleagues that Johnson sleeps there. "It would be a little weird for [officers] to be there if he wasn't there."

Another lawmaker told Insider that they had seen Johnson in the House gym early in the morning, a potential tell-tale sign — House members who sleep in their offices are generally known to shower in the gym before work.

And in an interview with Insider this week, Ross Barrett — a Louisiana businessman and longtime friend of Johnson's — touted the new speaker's office slumbers as a sign that he's focused on being there for his family.

"He hasn't gotten an extensive apartment on Capitol Hill or anything like that," said Barrett. "Oftentimes he spends the nights in his office."

Insider also searched for Johnson in a public-records database that draws from assessors' offices and other sources, but found no addresses listed for him in the DC area.

It's unclear whether he will continue sleeping in his office in light of his new position, and Johnson's staff have refused to confirm the new speaker's living arrangements on the record.

On Wednesday, Insider emailed a spokeswoman seeking confirmation of whether Johnson had a DC residence, whether he slept in his office, and if that would remain the case moving forward. She did not deny that Johnson lived in his office and indicated that she would provide a statement later that day, only to backtrack.

"Not sure I'm gonna have time to get you something today so don't want to hold you up," she wrote in an email.

Johnson's staff did not respond to several follow-up inquiries.

'It actually makes me more efficient'

It's not exactly a surprise that Johnson would do such a thing.

He's not all that wealthy, doesn't own or trade any individual stocks, has a mortgage on his Louisiana home, and does not appear to have any bank accounts worth more than $5,000.

There are likely dozens of lawmakers sleeping in their offices each night, and some well-known former House members have been known to do it, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. Often they'll sleep on a cot that can be stowed away, or on a couch.

Johnson wouldn't even be the first speaker in recent memory to sleep in his office — former House Speakers Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan have done the same thing.

"It actually makes me more efficient," Ryan told CNN in 2015. "I can actually get more work done by sleeping on a cot in my office. I have been doing it for at least a decade, and I'm going to keep doing it."

Ryan also told NBC's Meet the Press at the time that he slept in his office in the Longworth House Office Building, rather than the more expansive speaker's office in the Capitol, due to cigarette fumes from his predecessor, John Boehner.

McCarthy's living arrangements, meanwhile, were the subject of some controversy in 2021 after then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson revealed that the then-Minority Leader had been living in GOP pollster Frank Luntz's downtown DC penthouse.

That raised questions over whether McCarthy was playing less than fair market value for the room, which would have been a violation of House ethics guidelines against accepting gifts. McCarthy's office later told the Daily Wire that he rented a "room of approximately 400 square feet, and under House Ethics guidelines, calculated the fair market amount at $1,500/month."

McCarthy later said it was just for "a couple of months" and that he was now back to sleeping on a "couch in my office."

Meanwhile, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — one of the richest members of Congress — has a residence in Washington, DC's Georgetown neighborhood.

'Basically using free housing'

Despite its relative ubiquity, sleeping in the office isn't without its share of controversy.

Critics have argued that the practice is unsanitary, abusive of government resources, or downright inappropriate.

"During the height of the 'Me Too' movement in the House, there were stories about members in their pajamas talking to staff," former Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier of California told NPR in 2020. "It's abnormal to do that."

"There's something unsanitary about bringing people to your office who are talking about public policy where you spent the night," Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi told POLITICO in 2018. "That's unhealthy, unsanitary — and some people would say it's almost nasty."

Republicans in particular have been big proponents of sleeping it in the office, with the practice being seen as a marker of frugality. And it can be something of a necessity for those who aren't independently wealthy, given that the salary for members of Congress is $174,000 and hasn't been increased in 14 years.

But this year, Congress began allowing lawmakers to seek reimbursement for their lodging expenses in DC, easing some of that fiscal burden.

"You're basically using free housing," grumbled one of the lawmakers with an office near Johnson's. "You don't pay tax on it."

"I pay tax on my [DC] apartment, and I get taxed on my reimbursement," the lawmaker continued. "I don't know, just doesn't seem right."