WASHINGTON — According to a Republican congressman with knowledge of the situation and a GOP leadership source, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has notified Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, that he will no longer serve as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
According to the legislator, Turner informed him on Wednesday that he would not be continuing in his role as the chairman of the crucial committee that oversees the U.S. intelligence community. Some of the most critical, secret briefings from the intelligence community are given to the so-called “Gang of Eight” legislative leaders, which includes the chair of the House Intelligence Committee.
Later on Wednesday, Johnson confirmed the news, but he praised Turner while downplaying the change.
“The Congress has changed. In some of these situations, we simply need new horses. In the Capitol, Johnson informed reporters, “But I’m a Mike Turner fan.” “He’s performed admirably. In trying times and under trying conditions, he gave a heroic performance. I therefore only have good things to say about my friend and coworker.
The speaker went on to say, “This is not a President Trump decision; this is a House decision,” alluding to rumors that the shift was the result of political pressure. “And this is no slight whatsoever to our … outgoing chairman.”
Johnson stated that he would name a replacement on Thursday and that he had made the decision to keep Turner on the intelligence panel.
One of the few jobs that is directly selected by the speaker of the House at the beginning of a new Congress is the top Intelligence Committee position.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by a Turner representative.
Republican sources in the House stated that they were unsure of Johnson’s choice for Turner’s replacement. Representatives are among the panel’s senior Republicans. Darin LaHood of Illinois, Trent Kelly of Mississippi, and Rick Crawford of Arkansas.
When Johnson selected two Donald Trump supporters, Reps. Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, to the Intelligence Committee last year, it caused a stir in the intelligence community and on Capitol Hill.
Given that Turner is a recognized defense hawk on both sides of the aisle, the choice shocked politicians in both parties.
Turner was appointed as the panel’s top Republican beginning in January 2022 by then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. McCarthy retained him as chairman of the Intelligence Committee for the 118th Congress, which began in January 2023, after Republicans regained the majority that fall.
Johnson chose to retain Turner as chairman of Intelligence after McCarthy was removed and Johnson took over as speaker in October 2023.
Johnson now seems to be making his imprint on this role and others after earning his first full term as speaker earlier this month. Johnson named former Education and Workforce Committee head Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., as the next chair of the Rules Committee on Tuesday.
The Intelligence Committee’s Democrats claimed they were not informed that Turner was being removed.
“I think you’d be hard-pressed to find somebody as fair-minded,” said Connecticut Representative Jim Himes, the panel’s top Democrat. “I’m enormously concerned.”
Turner and he “had our disagreements, but, you know, I had confidence in him,” he continued.
Democrats have been raising concerns that presidential politics are influencing senior intelligence and national security positions as Trump approaches his return to the White House.
Senate Democrats on Wednesday asked Trump’s choice to head the CIA, former Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, if he would oppose efforts to require CIA staff to show “loyalty to a political figure above loyalty to country.”
Trump’s former director of national intelligence, Ratcliffe, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said that he would not put his staff through a political litmus test.
That never happened, if you look at my record and my record as DNI. “No one ever accused me of that,” he remarked. That is not something I would ever do.