Speaker Johnson removes Mike Turner as Intelligence Committee chair

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will not make Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) chair of the House Intelligence Committee in the 119th Congress, a source familiar with the decision confirmed to The Hill.

Turner had been the top Republican on the committee, a position selected by the Speaker, since the start of 2022, chosen by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for the role.

One Republican lawmaker told The Hill the decision was made after complaints from Freedom Caucus members.

Punchbowl News first reported Turner’s ouster.

Johnson’s decision to remove Turner comes as somewhat of a surprise. Though the Louisianan had not officially named a chair for the Intelligence panel for this Congress, Turner attended a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with President-elect Trump over the weekend with all the other House GOP standing committee chairs.

“It’s a new Congress, we just need fresh horses in some of these places, but I’m a Mike Turner fan, he’s done a great job, he’s performed valiantly in a difficult time under difficult circumstances. So I have nothing but positive things to say about my friend and colleague,” Johnson told reporters as he left the Capitol.

One Republican lawmaker familiar with the situation said the MAGA wing of the party revolted over keeping Turner in the post.

“What I know is that Mar-a-Lago vetoed Turner,” the lawmaker said.

“They vetoed him, and Johnson couldn't resist doing it, and so he got sandbagged because Trump wanted that to happen.”

The lawmaker noted the move came shortly after an article in Tablet Magazine noting complaints about Turner’s influence as his deputy pushed to move to the National Security Council.

“All these people, Freedom Caucus people went after Turner got to Trump and told them, ‘You got to tell Johnson to sandbag.’”

Because he will no longer be chair, Turner is set to no longer be on the committee at all. House rules limit membership on the panel to no more than four Congresses, or eight years, in a period of six successive Congresses — a rule that does not apply to the chair. Turner joined the Intelligence Committee in 2015.

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the panel, condemned Turner’s removal.

“Mike Turner is a serious, security focused lawmaker dedicated at his core to the national security of the United States and to the thoughtful oversight of the Intelligence Community,” Himes said in a statement.

“The removal of Chairman Turner makes our nation less secure and is a terrible portent for what’s to come. The Constitution demands that Congress function as a check and balance to the Executive Branch, not cater to its demands.”

CBS News’s Margaret Brennan reported Turner told her Johnson fired him after citing “concerns from Mar-a-Lago.”

Asked if Trump had played a role in his decision, Johnson said, “This is not a President Trump decision, this is a House decision and this is no slight whatsoever to our outgoing chairman, he did a great job, but we just, the Intelligence Community and everything related to HPSCI is, it needs a fresh start and that’s what this is about, nothing else.”

One source familiar with Turner’s office speculated his removal had to do with a cryptic warning he issued about a “serious national security threat” in early 2024, setting off a national panic — and then backlash.

The Republican lawmaker said that was also a factor.

“What you'll hear from Johnson's camp is they had to clean up that mess. They had to clean up that mess, and they didn't like that,” they said.

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby later confirmed the threat pertained to a Russian anti-satellite capability but said it is not an “active capability.”

Turner’s statement drew backlash from other Republicans, some of whom accused the chair of having ulterior motives behind releasing the statement.

It was a remarkable move, with the House Intelligence chair single-handedly forcing President Biden to declassify information he wasn’t otherwise planning to share with the public.

Himes said at the time that Turner had overstepped, adding “it’s something that the Congress, the administration does need to address in the medium to long run.”

Turner has also been a strong Republican supporter of aid to Ukraine, and supported an extension of surveillance powers known Section 702 in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — both of which have drawn the ire of Trump-allied, America First conservatives.

It is unclear whom Johnson will select to replace Turner. Johnson told reporters that he would announce the panel's new chair on Thursday.

There are a number of vacancies and upcoming vacancies on the Republican side of the committee, due to retirements and members such as Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Mike Waltz (R–Fla.) being selected for Trump administration positions.

The Republican lawmaker suspected that Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) would be the top pick. Crawford has served on the panel for years and recently led an investigation into the origins of "Havana syndrome," saying the symptoms may well be the result of a foreign attack.

Johnson last year appointed Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) to the committee, while the remaining Republicans on the panel are holdovers from before he became Speaker.

In a statement, Turner said he was “proud to have served on the House Intelligence Committee and as its chairman. There are great members on the Committee, and I’m honored to have served with them.”

“Under my leadership, we restored the integrity of the Committee and returned its mission to its core focus of national security. The threat from our adversaries is real and requires serious deliberations,” he added.

Updated at 8:39 p.m.

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