WASHINGTON – Chairman Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, informed Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, that he will no longer be chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, according to a Republican leadership source and a Republican lawmaker familiar with the matter. .
The lawmaker said Turner told him Wednesday that he would not remain as head of the critical panel that oversees the U.S. intelligence community. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is also a member of the so-called “Gang of Eight” congressional leaders who receive some of the intelligence community’s most sensitive classified reports.
Johnson confirmed the news later Wednesday, but downplayed the change and praised Turner.
“It’s a new Congress. We just need fresh horses in some of these places. But I’m a fan of Mike Turner,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. “He’s done a great job. He acted bravely in a difficult time and in difficult circumstances. So I have nothing but positive things to say about my friend and colleague.”
“This is not a decision by President Trump; it is a decision by the House of Representatives,” the spokesperson added, referring to speculation that politics may have led to the change. “And this is no slight to our… outgoing president.”
The top position on the Intelligence Committee is one of the few positions chosen directly by the Speaker of the House at the start of a new Congress. Johnson said he would make an announcement about Turner’s replacement on Thursday.
In a statement Wednesday night, Turner, a strong supporter of NATO who has aggressively pushed for the United States to help Ukraine, said he was “proud” of his time serving and leading the committee. His office said Turner would only serve on the Armed Services and Oversight and Government Reform committees in the new Congress, meaning he will no longer have a seat on the Intelligence panel.
“Under my leadership, we restored the integrity of the Committee and returned its mission to its core focus on national security. The threat from our adversaries is real and requires serious deliberations,” Turner said.
“As ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, I have been and will continue to be a strong supporter of the military and our national defense,” he continued. “My work to expand the missions and capabilities at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base continues. Additionally, I look forward to welcoming the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to Dayton in the coming months.”
House Republican sources said they did not know who Johnson would choose to replace Turner. Some high-ranking Republicans on the panel are Reps. Rick Crawford of Arkansas, Trent Kelly of Mississippi and Darin LaHood of Illinois.
Last year, Johnson raised eyebrows in the intelligence community and around Capitol Hill when he appointed two Donald Trump loyalists, Reps. Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, to the Intelligence Committee.
The decision to replace Turner surprised lawmakers from both parties given that Turner, a defense hawk, is highly respected on both sides of the aisle.
Then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., had tapped Turner to be the top Republican on the panel starting in January 2022. After Republicans regained the majority that fall, McCarthy retained him as chairman of the Intelligence Committee during the 118th Congress, a term that began in January 2023.
When McCarthy was ousted and Johnson succeeded him as president in October 2023, Johnson decided to keep Turner as Intelligence Chairman.
Now, after winning his first full term as president earlier this month, Johnson appears to be making his own mark in this position and others. On Tuesday, Johnson named Rep. Virginia Foxx, R.N.C., former chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, as the new chair of the Rules Committee.
Democrats on the Intelligence Committee said they received no warning that Turner was being removed.
“I’m enormously concerned because I think it would be difficult to find someone as impartial,” said Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Intelligence panel.
He added that Turner “and I had our disagreements, but, you know, I had confidence in him.”
With days before Trump returns to the White House, Democrats have been sounding the alarm that top intelligence and national security officials are being influenced by presidential policy.
Earlier on Wednesday, Senate Democrats pressed former Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, Trump’s pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, asking whether he would reject efforts requiring CIA employees to demonstrate “loyalty to a figure politics above loyalty to the country. “
Ratcliffe, a former member of the House Intelligence Committee and Trump’s director of national intelligence, responded that he would not impose a political litmus test on his employees.
“If you look at my file and my DNI file, that never happened. “That is never something that anyone has alleged,” he said. “It’s something I would never do.”
