Speaker Johnson Removes Mike Turner As House Intel Committee Chairman

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) removed House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) from his role on Wednesday just several days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Johnson told reporters that he made the decision because it was a new Congress and Republicans needed some “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. “So I have nothing but positive things to say about my friend.”

When asked if Trump had any role in the decision, Johnson said that it was not Trump’s decision, it was his.

“This is a House decision. This is no slight whatsoever to our outgoing chairman,” he said. “He did a great job, but we just, the intelligence community and everything related to HPSCI, it needs a fresh start and that’s what this is about, nothing else. So I have nothing negative say about Mike Turner at all. He’s a good man, a good colleague. I respect his work.”

He added that Turner would continue to be his appointee for everything involving NATO.

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Turner released a statement following the announcement in which he said that he was “very 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,” he 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.”

“As a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, I have been and will continue to be a strong advocate for the military and our national defense,” he added. “My work to expand missions and capabilities at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base continues. Furthermore, I look forward to welcoming the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to Dayton in the coming months.”

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