Prior to being Speaker, Mike was elected by his colleagues to serve as Vice Chairman of the House Republican Conference, one of the seven elected leadership positions for Republicans in the House of Representatives, as well as Deputy Whip. He was also previously honored to serve as chairman of the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus of conservatives in Congress, known as "the intellectual arsenal of conservatism in the House." With two decades of previous experience in Constitutional law, Mike previously served on the House Judiciary Committee, and as chairman of its Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government. He also served as a leader on the Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, the House Natural Resources Committee, and the House Armed Services Committee. His district includes important military installations, including Barksdale Air Force Base, headquarters of the Air Force Global Strike Command, and Fort Johnson (formerly Fort Polk) and the Army's Joint Readiness Training Center, as well as the Louisiana National Guard's Camp Minden Training Site and other assets.

Mike is a dedicated husband and father and an attorney who has devoted his life and career to fighting for the fundamental freedoms and traditional values that have made America the greatest nation in the history of the world. He spent nearly 20 years successfully litigating high profile constitutional law cases in district and appellate courts nationwide, and previously served in the Louisiana Legislature (2015-17). The eldest son of a Shreveport firefighter who was critically burned and permanently disabled in the line of duty, Mike learned early on the values of hard work, honor, and sacrifice. He has a practical understanding of the challenges that small business owners face because he, like his parents and grandparents, is one himself. Mike has also been a college professor, conservative talk radio host and columnist, a media spokesman for America's largest religious liberty organizations, a constitutional law seminar instructor, a board member and legal counsel for national organizations and numerous community groups and ministries.

Mike earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Louisiana State University in 1995, and his Juris Doctorate from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in 1998. He and his wife Kelly, a former school teacher and now a Licensed Pastoral Counselor, have been married since 1999, and have four children, Hannah, Abigail, Jack and Will, and an older son Michael, who became a part of their family in 1999. Today, they reside in Bossier Parish.