House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) is facing calls for his removal after he pulled a stunt to scuttle surveillance reform.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) fired the first shot with an official statement calling for Turner's head over his efforts to stop much needed surveillance reforms.
Good's statement said, "I do not think he should remain as chairman. I don’t think he should remain as chairman because of what he’s trying to do to reauthorize FISA without the appropriate reforms to protect the American people in terms of their, again, most precious basic constitutional rights. We have a constitution that limits what government can do."
Other Republicans have called for Turner's removal and it seems his career is in serious jeopardy.
Why Turner felt the need to sacrifice his career over warrantless electronic surveillance that violates American's constitutional rights, no one knows.
The National Security Administration has been out of control for years and has been pushing the limits of American's 4th Amendment rights for years.
Congress now has a great opportunity to step in and rein in mass surveillance systems that do nothing for our security while making a mockery of American's privacy.
Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) issued a statement saying, "Chairman Mike Turner should lose his job over his political stunt this week. His cryptic statements caused the markets to crash and created unnecessary panic. This stunt conveniently occurred during the week we wanted to curtail warrantless government surveillance."
The pressure is being put on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to knock Turner from his position which is yet another headache for Johnson.
Johnson has been forced to deal with politics and infighting seemingly since he was elected House speaker.
Removing Turner from his position will be painful and no doubt anger a lot of Representatives but it must be done if Johnson wants to demonstrate to Republican voters that he means business in cleaning up the Republican Party.
Whether or not Turner is removed from his position, the question of reforming American surveillance regulations to rein in the surveillance state is still unanswered.
There is actually bipartisan support for reforms as shown by a group of Representatives made up of Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Warren Davidson (R-OH), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Ben Cline (R-VA).
Seeing those names supporting the same cause is unusual but that is good news for reform efforts. If Democrats and Republicans can come together and force a vote, Congress might have done something right for once.
