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.
The congressman claimed that Turner told him on Wednesday that he would no longer serve as the critical committee’s chairman.
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.
There was no response from Johnson’s office. 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.
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.
The 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.