WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has informed Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, of the , he will no longer serve as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

The congressman said Turner told him on Wednesday that he would not continue as head of a key group that oversees the U.S. intelligence community. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is also a member of the so-called "Gang of Eight" congressional leaders who receive some of the most sensitive classified briefings from the intelligence community.

Johnson confirmed the news late Wednesday but downplayed the change and praised Turner.

"This is a new Congress. We're just going to have to put new horses in some of these places. But I'm a fan of Mike Turner," Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. "He's done a great job. He's been heroic in difficult times and difficult circumstances. So I have nothing but positive things to say about my friend and colleague."

"This is not President Trump's decision; this is the House's decision," the spokesman added, referring to speculation that politics could lead to the change. “This is no slight on our outgoing president.”

Johnson said he has decided Turner will remain on the intelligence team and will announce a replacement on Thursday.

The top position on the Intelligence Committee is one of the few directly chosen by the Speaker of the House at the start of a new Congress.

A spokesman for Turner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

House Republican sources said they don’t know who Johnson will choose to replace Turner. Some of the senior Republicans on the panel include Arkansas Rep. Rick Crawford, Mississippi Rep. Trent Kelly and Illinois Rep. Darin LaHood LaHood).

Johnson raised eyebrows in the intelligence community last year when he appointed two Donald Trump loyalists, Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) to the Intelligence Committee. Concern around Capitol Hill.

The decision to replace Turner shocked lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, given that Turner is a defense hawk who is deeply respected on both sides of the aisle.

Then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., appointed Turner to serve as the panel's top Republican starting in January 2022. After the Republicans regained the majority that fall, McCarthy allowed him to continue serving as chairman of the Intelligence Committee in the 118th Congress, starting in January 2023.

In October 2023, after McCarthy was ousted and Johnson replaced him as speaker, Johnson decided to stay on as chairman of the Turner Intelligence Service.

Now, after winning his first full term as speaker earlier this month, Johnson appears to be leaving his mark on that role and others. On Tuesday, Johnson appointed Virginia Foxx, a registered nurse and former chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, to chair the new rules committee.

Democrats on the Intelligence Committee said they had received no warning that Turner would be removed.

"I'm very concerned because I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone as impartial as he is," said Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the intelligence panel.

He added that Turner "and I have our differences, but, you know, I have confidence in him."

With Trump just days away from returning to the White House, Democrats have been sounding the alarm that top intelligence and national security positions are being compromised by the president's politics.

Earlier Wednesday, Senate Democrats pressed former Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe, Trump's nominee to head the CIA, asking whether he would object to requiring CIA employees to demonstrate "a political aversion to politics." The loyalty of the character is higher than the loyalty to the country." "

Ratcliffe, a former member of the House Intelligence Committee who served as Trump's director of national intelligence, responded that he would not subject his own staff to political litmus tests.

"If you look at my record and my record as director of national intelligence, this has never happened. This has never been claimed," he said. "That's something I would never do."