A Hawkeye alum will control the U.S. House of Representatives until a new Speaker is elected. 

Cheryl Johnson, who serves as House Clerk, is currently presiding over the body and is conducting each vote for a new Speaker. She’s been seen in the coverage that is dominating national news—wielding the gavel during each, so far, failed vote.

William Lacy Clay, a former congressman from Missouri, has known Johnson for more than 40 years, telling MSNBC in a recent interview that he is proud of his friend.

“The country should know the institution of the U.S. House of Representatives is in great hands with Cheryl Johnson presiding over it,” he said during the on-air interview with the cable television network. 

Johnson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1980. While on campus, she worked on the copy staff for the 1979 Hawkeye Yearbook. 

After graduating from Iowa, she went on to earn her law degree from Howard University and graduated from the senior management program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Johnson was sworn in as Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She is the 36th individual to serve as Clerk and had done so since 2019. There will be a vote on a new Clerk once the speakership is determined. 

Before becoming Clerk, Johnson worked for nearly two decades in the House followed by 10 years at the Smithsonian Institution, where she most recently served as Director of the Smithsonian’s Office of Government Relations, working with leadership to maintain strong relationships with Congress.