Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Learn More
Continue in Browser
Get hyperlocal forecasts, radar and weather alerts.
Please enter a valid zipcode.
Save
WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Speaker Mike Johnson has removed Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, as Chair of the House Intelligence Committee.
The move to remove Turner from leadership of the key oversight panel comes just days before Donald Trump will be sworn into office for his second term, and signals a shift to align congressional national security leaders behind Trump’s agenda.
After Johnson announced Turner’s ouster on Wednesday, he denied that Trump was behind the decision.
Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Ohio, said Turner’s removal made her question Republicans’ independence from the White House.
“We have seen quite a bit of meddling from folks who want to control Congress,” Sykes said. “Congressman Turner was someone who was willing to meet with me when I was first elected to talk about his priorities, to hear about mine, and I found him to be a very generous and thoughtful member of Congress.”
Turner, a mainstream conservative who has represented southwestern Ohio for more than two decades and was previously the mayor of Dayton, has been a foreign policy hawk and defender of the U.S. intelligence community.
His worldview is markedly different from that of Trump; in particular, Turner strongly supports continuing funding Ukraine in its war against Russia.
“This is a threat to the United States, and Ukraine is admirably defending itself,” Turner told Spectrum News last April. “This is the battle between authoritarianism and democracy. If we allow authoritarianism to strengthen, and to impose its will on democracies, then our democracy is at threat also.”
Still, Turner avoided criticizing Trump in his time as Chair of the Intelligence Committee. He recently defended Trump’s commitment to the NATO alliance, even though Trump has threatened to withdraw from the alliance if its 32 member states don’t spend at least 2 percent of their economic output on defense.
“When Trump was president last time, Trump left NATO stronger than when he came into office. And I’m certain it will be the same this time,” he said.
Turner’s removal as Chair effectively kicks him off the committee altogether, since his decade on the panel exceeds the six-year term limit for rank-and-file members.
Combined with the retirement of former Rep. Brad Wenstrup, the panel now has no Ohio representation.
“At a time when we are concerned about our national security, we want our best and our brightest in these roles. and certainly we want someone from Ohio because it means more credibility for us as well as the state,” Sykes said. “So it is disappointing to see someone who has been at the helm successfully, be removed.”
Turner’s replacement will be Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., who is more closely aligned with Trump and MAGA “America First” policies.
Even off the committee, Turner will remain deeply involved in international affairs, serving as the head of the U.S. delegation to the NATO parliamentary assembly. Their annual spring session will be held in Dayton in May.
