Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has removed Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) from the chairmanship of the House’s intelligence committee, reportedly due to concerns President-elect Donald Trump had about Turner.
Johnson’s decision to remove Turner from atop the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), first reported Wednesday by Punchbowl News, marks the first significant shakeup from Johnson in the new Congress.
The Speaker has sole authority to appoint the chairmen of select committees, and although Johnson had delayed an official announcement on the committee’s leadership this Congress, his removal of Turner surprised most on Capitol Hill.
Per two senior sources, Turner told colleagues Johnson said Trump requested the shakeup. Story to come. https://t.co/PlIztI9ckk
— Juliegrace Brufke (@juliegraceb) January 15, 2025
Privacy advocates on both sides of the aisle have frequently criticized Turner for doing the bidding of the intelligence community. His fervency towards preserving Section 702 provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that enable intelligence agencies to spy on Americans without warrants particularly rankled Trump. Critics of 702 argue the provision empowers the Deep State beyond constitutional grounds.
Turner butted heads with Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), his fellow Ohioan, over the path forward on FISA reauthorization, which ultimately passed in April 2024 after Turner’s approach won out. The two committees split jurisdiction over FISA, and a Judiciary Committee approach to reauthorize FISA would have gone further towards instituting reforms.
Turner was also one of the most vociferous proponents of foreign aid to Ukraine to fight its increasingly quixotic war against Russia.
Turner confirmed his firing to CBS News, which reports that Johnson cited “concerns from Mar-a-Lago” as behind his decision.
I spoke with House intel chair Mike Turner (R-OH) who told me that Speaker Johnson has fired him as chair of the committee overseeing the intelligence community. Johnson cited "concerns from Mar a Lago" as justification for the removal.
— Margaret Brennan (@margbrennan) January 15, 2025
Rep Jim Himes (D-CT) tells CBS that this…
Johnson diplomatically denied Trump’s role in the decision.
“It’s new Congress, we just need fresh horses in some of these places, but I’m a Mike Turner fan,” Johnson said Wednesday night in the Capitol, The Hill reports. “He’s done a great job. He’s performed valiantly in a difficult time under difficult circumstances.”
When prodded about Trump’s involvement, Johnson said, “This is not a President Trump decision, this is a House decision,” adding, “We just, the Intelligence Community and everything related to HPSCI is, it needs a fresh start and that’s what this is about.”
Speaker Johnson just left the Capitol. We asked him about Turner/Intel:
— Mychael Schnell (@mychaelschnell) January 15, 2025
He said he’s announcing the new chair tomorrow.
On not re-appointing Turner: “It’s 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…
This is not the first time Johnson exercised his authority over Turner. Johnson “blindsided” Turner in June 2024 by appointing two “controversial” conservatives, Reps. Scott Perry (R-PA) and Ronny Jackson (R-TX), to the committee.
Perry and Jackson voted for an amendment that Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) proposed to require a warrant for Section 702.
Johnson, despite previously supporting reforms to 702 to prevent warrantless surveillance of Americans, cast the decisive vote to kill the Biggs amendment. The program must be reauthorized in early 2026, and Trump will likely insist that 702 reforms go further than in 2024.
But Johnson’s relationship with Turner appeared to begin deteriorating in February 2024 after Turner caused a panic with a cryptic statement publicly raising the alarm on an alleged threat from Russia. Republicans accused Turner of a politically driven gambit to get Congress to pass billions in aid for Ukraine and reauthorize FISA.
Jim Himes, top Dem on House Intel, just told a group of us that removing Turner “sends a shiver down my spine” and that he is “enormously concerned.” Said Turner isn’t the kind of guy who was quick to “bend the knee” to Trump and kept his “eyes on the prize” of oversight https://t.co/xoBA6wTXDA
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 15, 2025
Johnson owes his Speakership to Trump, who pressured holdouts to support him on January 3. Trump is likely to leverage that position over Johnson for as long as both men are in power.
Yet even if Johnson’s move against Turner was strongly encouraged by Trump, the move demonstrates a new assertiveness for Johnson, who bent to the will of Turner and other establishment forces in the last Congress on FISA and aid to Ukraine.
Turner voted against the censure of now-Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) in June 2023, one of only 20 Republicans to do so.
Bradley Jaye is Deputy Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye.