Johnson ousts Turner as intelligence chairman, bowing to Trump

Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday removed Rep. Michael R. Turner of Ohio as head of the House Intelligence Committee, in a shakeup that signaled he intended to more closely align the crucial committee on national security with President-elect Donald J. Trump.

Mr. Turner, who emerged from a meeting with the speaker on Wednesday afternoon looking furious, told people that Mr. Johnson had informed him that his ouster was the result of a request from the property from Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, according to a person familiar with those conversations.

The president-elect has long distrusted the intelligence community, saying its members were part of a politicized “deep state” that had a grudge against him. By sidelining a Republican seen as insufficiently loyal to Mr. Trump, Mr. Johnson appears to be paving the way for the president-elect’s tighter control over the committee that oversees intelligence matters.

Mr. Turner, a traditional conservative who has represented southwest Ohio in the House for more than two decades, has at times criticized Mr. Trump’s actions. He broke with the majority of his party on January 6, 2021, and voted to certify the election of Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020. He has also been a leading proponent of supporting Ukraine in its struggle against Russia, breaking with the “America first” stance of the president-elect and many others in his party.

Mr Johnson denied on Wednesday that Mr Trump was behind the decision to strip Mr Turner of his presidency, which was earlier reported by Punchbowl.

“This is not a decision by President Trump; it’s a House decision,” Mr. Johnson told reporters as he left the Capitol on Wednesday evening, adding that he had “nothing but positive things” to say about Mr. Turner.