President Johnson fires Mike Turner as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will not nominate Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) to chair the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the 119th Congress, a source familiar with the decision confirmed to The Hill.

Turner had been the top Republican on the committee, a position selected by the president, since early 2022, handpicked by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for the role.

As he will no longer be chairman, Turner will no longer serve on the committee. House rules limit membership on the panel to no more than four Congresses, or eight years, in a period of six successive Congresses, a rule that does not apply to the president. Turner joined the Intelligence Committee in 2015.

Punchbowl News first reported Turner’s ouster from the Intelligence Committee role.

Johnson’s decision to remove Turner is somewhat of a surprise. Although Johnson had not officially nominated a chairman for this Congress’s intelligence panel, Turner attendeda Mar-a-Lago dinner with President-elect Trump over the weekend with all the other House GOP standing committee chairs.

A source familiar with Turner’s office speculated that his dismissal had to do with a cryptic warning he issued about a “serious threat to national security” in early 2024, causing national panic, and then a backlash.

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby later confirmed that the threat pertained to a Russian anti-satellite capability, but said it is not an “active capability.”

The statement drew backlash from other Republicans, some of whom accused the president of having ulterior motives behind the release of the statement.

It was a remarkable move, with the Intel chair of the House forcing President Biden to declassify information he otherwise had no plans to share with the public.

Ranking member Jim Himes (D-Conn.) said at the time that Turner overreached, adding “it’s something that Congress and the administration have to address in the medium to long term.”

Turner has also been a strong Republican supporter of aid to Ukraine and supported an expansion of the surveillance powers known under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which have sparked outrage from America First conservatives, allies of Trump.

Turner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CBS News’ Margaret Brennan informedthat Turner told him Johnson fired him after citing “Mar-a-Lago concerns.”

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the panel’s ranking member, told reporters that Turner’s removal “sends a shiver down my spine” and that he is “tremendously concerned.” CNN reported.

It is unclear who Johnson will select to replace Turner. There are a number of vacancies and upcoming vacancies on the Republican side of the committee, due to retirements and members such as Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Mike Waltz (R–Fla.) being tapped for positions on the Trump administration.

Johnson last year appointed Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) to the committee, while the remaining Republicans on the panel are holdovers from before he became chairman.

Mychael Schnell and Rebecca Beitsch contributed. Updated at 6:15 p.m

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