Johnson removes Republican chair of House Intelligence Committee

By Annie Grayer, Kit Maher and Manu Raju, CNN

(CNN) — House Speaker Mike Johnson has removed Republican Rep. Mike Turner as chair 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 the second time.

The speaker denied Wednesday that the president-elect urged him to remove Turner as the panel’s chair, telling reporters that they would learn Thursday who he would select as the Ohio Republican’s replacement.

“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,” 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 this is 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 in initially naming Turner to the role. Turner was not told in 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’m honored to have served with them,” Turner said. “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.

The removal was first reported by Punchbowl News.

Calling Turner a “good man,” Johnson said Wednesday the congressman would continue to be his “appointee with everything regarding to 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 performed valiantly in a difficult time under difficult circumstances,” Johnson said. “I have nothing but positive things to say.”

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

The change, he said, would be a blow to the panel’s ability to do oversight under Trump’s incoming administration. And while the pair had disagreements, Himes said, he had confidence in Turner.

“I have ice in my spine right now because that would totally change the dynamic of oversight,” the Connecticut congressman told reporters.

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

Asked whether Turner had upset Trump in any way to prompt Johnson’s decision, Himes said he didn’t know. “I’m not the person to answer that. One of the reasons I was confident in Mike’s ability to do oversight was that he, you know, was not quick to bend the knee,” he said.

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

This story has been updated with additional details.

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

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