The speaker replaced a Republican who had criticized the president-elect and broken with him on key issues, and who had drawn the ire and suspicion of those close to the president-elect.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Thursday selected Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) to chair the House Intelligence Committee, elevating the veteran panel member to the role after he removed Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) from the top job.

Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) to chair the House Intelligence Committee, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has tapped a veteran conservative with “America First” leanings to steer one of the most powerful panels heading into the second Trump administration.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has appointed Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas as the new chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson said he selected Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., to serve as the next chairman of the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday, one day after Johnson made the stunning decision to oust Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, from the role.

Johnson sent shockwaves around Capitol Hill when he decided to oust Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio — a staunch NATO supporter who has aggressively pushed for U.S. aid to Ukraine — as chair of the House Intelligence Committee and replace him with Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., a conservative who voted against the most recent Ukraine aid package.

Ark., to serve as the next chairman of the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday, one day after Johnson made the stunning decision to oust Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, from the role. The Economist's Adam O'Neal discusses.

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, two of Arkansas' six federal lawmakers, now serve in Congress' top roles overseeing the nation's intelligence efforts, responsibilities which involve receiving classified briefings on pressing international security issues.

Arkansas is now the most important state in the U.S. Congress – by far – when it comes to overseeing intelligence-gathering agencies like the CIA

Speaker Mike Johnson said the panel would counter “false narratives” about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and what led up to it, a sign that the G.O.P. would continue to try shift blame for the attack.

The Laken Riley Act, as the bill is known, directs the authorities to deport immigrants who are accused — not yet convicted — of specific crimes, if they are in the country illegally.

Four years ago, the six members of Arkansas' congressional delegation decried the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Today, those lawmakers still say the violence was unacceptable, but they are not lingering on President Donald Trump's decision to pardon or commute the sentences of approximately 1,