WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 President-elect Donald Trump is interviewing candidates for the role of FBI director, incoming Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday in the clearest indication yet that the new administration is looking to replace current director Christopher Wray.
In a social media post that was later deleted, Vance defended himself from criticism over his absence from a Senate vote at which a judicial nominee of President Joe Biden was confirmed by saying that at the time of the vote, 鈥淚 was meeting with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director.鈥
鈥淚 tend to think it鈥檚 more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45,鈥 he added on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. 鈥淏ut that's just me.鈥
Vance was referring to the Senate vote Monday to confirm Embry J. Kidd, a Biden nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, a vote that he and several other Republican senators missed.
An FBI spokesperson declined to comment.
鈥淧resident-Elect Trump is making decisions on who will serve in his second Administration,鈥 said Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition team. 鈥淭hose decisions will continue to be announced by him when they are made.鈥
The FBI director's position carries a 10-year term but Wray's replacement would not be unexpected given when he was president seven years ago. This past summer, for instance, Trump took to social media to call for Wray to resign after Wray appeared to vouch for Biden's mental acuity.
Some allies of Trump, including conservative strategist Steve Bannon, have been pushing Trump loyalist Kash Patel for the position but other potential contenders for the job are thought to include Mike Rogers, who recently lost his bid for the U.S. Senate as a Michigan Republican.
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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
