House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: BRYAN DOZIER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is staring down surprise and frustration from lawmakers in both parties for removing Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) as chair of the House Intelligence Committee.
Why it matters: The ouster of Turner, a staunch foreign policy hawk and defender of the intelligence community, was a blow to the large bipartisan bloc of national security-minded lawmakers in Congress.
Driving the news: Johnson confirmed Wednesday that Turner, who was appointed to his role by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in 2022, would not be reappointed to lead the Intelligence panel.
- “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 told reporters.
- “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,” he added.
- Turner was seen by some House Republicans as too close to the intel community, and he angered GOP colleagues with an alarming statement last year warning of a “serious national security threat.”
What they’re saying: Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), a hawkish Intelligence Committee member, told reporters “we all have questions and concerns” and that Turner’s removal “kind of came out of nowhere.”
- “McCarthy spent a lot of political capital right-sizing and fixing that committee so that it would be what it needed to be. And Johnson, it’s not really clear what his plan is,” Crenshaw added.
- Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), another hawk, told Axios “it divides the conference, and I don’t think that’s good,” adding that “most of us agree” with Turner on issues like Ukraine and intelligence collection.
- “I’m not happy with the decision. I think the vast majority of us are not happy with the decision,” said another House Republican who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Zoom in: Despite Johnson’s denials, several House Republicans pushed the theory that the right-wing House Freedom Caucus pressed President-elect Trump’s team to demand Turner’s ouster.
- The House Republican who spoke anonymously said the right-wing group, still smarting over a successful Turner-led push to reauthorize the federal government’s spying capabilities, engineered the move.
- “The House Freedom Caucus remembered that, went down to Mar-a-Lago, extracted a pound of flesh from somebody they didn’t like,” they said. The right-wing group met with Trump at his Florida resort last weekend.
- Crenshaw called it a “very believable theory.”
- “Rumors are HFC demanded it,” offered Bacon, adding that “if the rumors are true, it’s offensive.”
The other side: Freedom Caucus members pleaded ignorance.
- “He and I had our disagreements. I was surprised … I was totally taken aback,” said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), a leading opponent of federal government surveillance.
- Freedom Caucus chair Andy Harris (R-Md), asked if any of his members pushed for Turner’s removal, told Axios: “I don’t think so. You’d have to ask them. It’s not an issue we bring up.”
- Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), a former Freedom Caucus member, told Axios, “I support the speaker’s decision as it is his decision to make.”
Democrats, meanwhile, are very public about their outrage towards Johnson’s move.
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called Turner’s removal “unjustified” and said it is “likely being applauded by our adversaries in Russia and China. Shameful.”
- “It’s very troubling, to put it mildly … and it’s foreboding that they are removing somebody as strong as that for apparently political reasons,” said Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), an Intelligence Committee member.
What’s next: Crenshaw told reporters that Republicans on the panel plan to meet with Johnson to try to get his explanation for the decision.
- Still, Crenshaw said of Crawford: “I like Rick. He’s already CIA subcommittee chair.”
The bottom line: “Any time the speaker makes appointments of course you’re going to have people who are upset,” a senior House Republican told Axios.
- “Mike Turner’s well respected among a good cross-section of the conference.”
