House Speaker Mike Johnson weighs in on CDC turmoil, Epstein files and more on ‘Good Morning America’

House Speaker Mike Johnson, on “Good Morning America” on Friday, weighed in on turmoil at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Minneapolis school shooting and what’s next for Congress on the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Johnson defended Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after a mass exodus at the CDC spurred by the administration’s termination of the agency’s director, Susan Monarez.

The speaker was also pressed on whether he would allow a floor vote to compel the Justice Department to release the Epstein files, and whether the House would take action on gun violence in the wake of the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School.

Congress returns next week from its monthlong August recess. Here are highlights from Johnson’s interview.

Johnson says CDC shakeup ‘needed’

“Well, I think overall, Secretary Kennedy is doing a great job,” Johnson said when asked about the tumult at the CDC.

“There’s been a shakeup that’s been needed there, and I think we’ve got to trust the secretary to do his job,” the speaker added. “They’ve had some great results there. We’re getting America healthy again — that’s well received across the country, and long overdue, in my view, so we’re going to let the Cabinet do their job, and I’m going to stay in my lane and do mine.”

Asked about vaccine availability for Americans and overall trust in the CDC following this week’s showdown, Johnson said “let’s see how all that sorts out.”

“The CDC plays an important role in the government and in our society, and we want it to be strong, and we want it to be restored to its original intent,” Johnson said. “The secretary’s made a good point that the existing leadership was not — not doing that.”

Johnson on whether House will vote on Epstein files

When lawmakers return to Washington, so will a renewed push for the complete release of the Epstein files from Justice Department.

Johnson will be faced with a bipartisan effort, led by Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, to force a floor vote on their discharge petition.

“If it’s necessary, we will,” Johnson said of having a vote on the discharge petition on the floor, despite previously calling their bill “reckless” and ending the legislative session early in July over the Epstein controversy.

But Johnson said he believed it wouldn’t be needed after the Justice Department handed over thousands of Epstein documents to the House Oversight Committee last week.

“I think what’s happened over August, over the last few weeks, has probably mooted that — the necessity of legislation,” Johnson said.

Khanna has criticized the Justice Department’s release to the committee, saying much of it was information that was already public and that lawmakers still need to pass his bill.

Johnson addresses Minneapolis shooting

Following the deadly school shooting in Minnesota, which left two children dead and 18 people injured, Johnson did not point to any new legislation that would address gun violence or mental health that could be brought up in Congress, but said he is “always open for that” discussion.

“Listen, it’s important that politicians on either side of the aisle do not politicize a moment like this,” Johnson said. “There are many commonsense measures that can and should be taken to protect children at schools and churches that do not involve taking away the constitutional rights of law-abiding American citizens.”

“At the end of the day, the problems in these situations is not the guns, it’s the human heart, and we can put more resources towards treatment of mental health,” Johnson said.

The speaker said that he is open to “any bipartisan solution that can address these kinds of issues that actually go to the heart of the matter.”

Johnson talks ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

Many Republican lawmakers spent August recess hearing from constituents after the passage of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill, with some town halls turning heated over the matter.

This week, Trump suggested the legislation needed a rebranding, saying the phrase “big beautiful bill” was “not good for explaining to people what it’s all about.”

A Pew Research Center poll released earlier this month found just three in 10 Americans approve of Trump’s signature tax and budget bill.

Johnson, on “Good Morning America,” pushed back against the poll numbers and claimed individual provisions in the bill are more popular than surveys show once they are explained to the public.

“What we did over the August district work period is all the Republican members of Congress, Senate and House, went out, fanned out across the country in their districts, and talked with the American people about the extraordinary provisions that are in this bill,” the speaker said.

“It is aptly named. It is big and it is beautiful, and every single American is going to benefit from it,” Johnson said.