WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is interviewing candidates for FBI director. In the clearest indication yet, new Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that the new administration wants to replace current director Christopher Wray.
In a social media post that was later deleted, Vance defended his absence from a Senate vote confirming a judicial nominee of President Joe Biden, saying that at the time of the vote, “I was meeting with President Trump to interview multiple positions. for our government, including for the FBI director.”
“I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than for Republicans to lose a 49-46 vote instead of 49-45,” he added on X , the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Vance was referring to Monday’s Senate vote to confirm Embry J. Kidd, a Biden nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, a vote he and several other Republican senators missed.
An FBI spokesperson declined to comment and the Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The job of FBI director is for a 10-year term, but Wray’s replacement would not be unexpected given Trump’s longstanding criticism of the director he appointed when he was president seven years ago. Last summer, for example, Trump took to social media to call for Wray’s resignation after Wray appeared to vouch for Biden’s mental acuity.
Some Trump allies, including conservative strategist Steve Bannon, have been pushing Trump loyalist Kash Patel for the position, but other potential contenders for the job are also believed to include Mike Rogers, a former FBI agent and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. House who recently lost his bid for the position. the U.S. Senate as a Republican from Michigan.
