House speaker removed intelligence committee chair Mike Turner, whose stances have run afoul with Trump

House Democrats are expressing concerns about Republican speaker Mike Johnson’s decision yesterday to remove the head of the chamber’s intelligence committee, whose stances had run afoul of Donald Trump.

Johnson yesterday fired the committee’s chair, Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican who was a vocal supporter of security assistance to Ukraine. According to the Associated Press, Johnson justified Turner’s firing by saying, the “intelligence community and everything related to [the committee] needs a fresh start”.

Mike Turner is a serious, thoughtful and highly principled leader, whose work as Chair of the House Intelligence Committee has been extremely impactful. Throughout his time in the House of Representatives, Chairman Turner has upheld his oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies and championed our national security interests. Mike Turner has robustly promoted the safety of the American people and the Free World and his unjustified ouster is likely being applauded by our adversaries in Russia and China. Shameful.

Mike Turner is dedicated to national security and thoughtful oversight of the IC. His removal makes our nation less secure and is a terrible portent for what’s to come. The Constitution demands Congress function as a check on the Executive Branch, not cater to its demands.