Johnson removes the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee

CNN
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House Speaker Mike Johnson has removed Republican Representative Mike Turner as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee for the 119th Congress.

While the speaker has the authority to appoint members of the committee, the move marks a significant change among the leadership of a key oversight panel just days before Donald Trump is sworn in as president for a second term.

The speaker denied Wednesday that the president-elect was urging him to remove Turner as the panel’s chairman and told reporters they would know Thursday who he would pick as the Ohio Republican’s replacement.

“This is not a President Trump decision. This is a House decision, and it’s no slight to our outgoing chairman. He did a great job,” Johnson said. “The intelligence community and everything related to (the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence), it needs a fresh start. And that’s what it’s about. Nothing else.”

A source familiar with Johnson’s thinking told CNN that the speaker wanted to bring in his own chairman of the committee, just as then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy did when he originally appointed Turner to the role. Turner was not told at the meeting that it was Trump’s decision to remove him, the source added.

In a statement, Turner said he was “very proud to have served” as chairman.

“There are great members on the committee and I am honored to have served with them,” Turner said. “Under my leadership, we restored the committee’s integrity and returned its mission to its core national security focus. The threat posed by our adversaries is real and requires serious consideration.

The removal was first reported by Punchbowl news.

Calling Turner a “good man,” Johnson said Wednesday that the congressman would continue to be his “designate on all things NATO.”

“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 acted bravely in a difficult time under difficult circumstances,” Johnson said. nothing but positive things to say.”

The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jim Himes, said he was “tremendously concerned” by the development, telling reporters: “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone as fair-minded” as Turner.

The change, he said, would be a blow to the panel’s ability to conduct oversight under the incoming Trump administration. And while the pair disagreed, Himes said he trusted Turner.

“I have chills down my spine right now because it would totally change the dynamics of oversight,” the Connecticut congressman said.

Asked if Turner had interfered in any way with Trump to get Johnson’s decision, Himes said he did not know. “I’m not the person to answer that. One of the reasons I was confident in Mike’s foresight was that he, you know, wasn’t quick to bend the knee,” he said.

Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Republican Rep. Mike Waltz, addressed the speaker when asked by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, saying that congressional “leadership decisions are with” Johnson.

CNN’s Kaanita Iyer and Ali Main contributed to this report.