Speaker Johnson removes Mike Turner as chairman of House Intelligence

WASHINGTON – Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has informed Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, that he will no longer chair the House Intelligence Committee, according to a GOP leadership source and a Republican lawmaker familiar with the matter.

The lawmaker said Turner informed him Wednesday that he would not be staying on as head of the critical committee.

The top post 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’s office had no comment. A spokesman for Turner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

House Republican sources said they did not know who Johnson would choose to replace Turner.

The decision stunned lawmakers in both parties, as Turner, a defense hawk, is well-respected on both sides of the aisle.

Then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., had tapped Turner to serve as the top Republican on the panel beginning in January 2022. After Republicans took back the majority that fall, McCarthy retained him as chairman of the Intelligence Committee for the 118th Congress , a period that started in January 2023.

When McCarthy was ousted and Johnson succeeded him as speaker in October 2023, Johnson decided to retain Turner as intelligence chairman.

Now, after winning his first full term as speaker earlier this month, Johnson appears to be putting his own stamp on that position and others.

Democrats on the committee said they were given no warning that Turner was being removed.

“I’m tremendously concerned because I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who is fair,” said Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the intelligence panel.

He added that Turner “and I had our differences, but you know, I trusted him.”