Cheryl L. Johnson

Cheryl Lynn Johnson (born 1960) is an American government affairs official who serves as the 36th Clerk of the United States House of Representatives for the 116th Congress since February 26, 2019.

Johnson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to Reverend Charlie and Cynthia Davis.

Cheryl L. Johnson graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication in 1980. She earned her law degree from the Howard University School of Law in 1983. Johnson later attended the Harvard Kennedy School's senior management program in 1988.

Johnson served as director and counsel for the Committee on House Administration's Subcommittee on Libraries and Memorials, House Committee on Post Office, and Civil Service Subcommittee on Investigations. She worked with the Subcommittee chair, Bill Clay, to exercise oversight and legislative responsibility over the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution.

Johnson served as the chief education and investigative counsel for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. She was the principal policy advisor and spokesperson for the Committee. She primarily focused elementary and secondary education issues, juvenile justice, child nutrition, labor issues, and older Americans' employment and nutrition programs.

After nearly twenty years in the House of Representatives, Johnson went on to serve as director of the Smithsonian Institution's Office of Government Relations for ten years.

Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives

In late December 2018, Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi named Johnsonas her choice for the next Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. On February 25, 2019 Johnson was sworn as the 36th Clerk and assumed the role on February 26, 2019. She was proceeded by Karen L. Haas. The son of former Representative Bill Clay, Representative Lacy Clay, welcomed Johnson during her swearing in on the House floor.

Johnson lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland with her husband Clarence Ellison and their son Bradford.

She is a member of the District of Columbia and Louisiana Bars. She serves on the board of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church and the Faith and Politics Institute.