Donald Trump, the President-elect, alongside Vice President-elect JD Vance, is in the process of interviewing candidates for the role of FBI director, as mentioned by Vance in a post on social media that has since been removed.
In his X post, Vance appeared to disclose that interviews were already underway, defending his absence during a vote to approve Judge Embry Kidd, who is President Joe Biden’s nominee for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
His remarks suggest that Trump might be gearing up to dismiss the current FBI Director, Christopher Wray, before his designated 10-year tenure concludes.
“While the vote for the 11th Circuit was occurring, I was in a meeting with President Trump interviewing various candidates for government roles, including the FBI Director position,” Vance expressed in the now-deleted post, addressing critics of his absence. “I believe it’s more crucial to secure an FBI director capable of dismantling the deep state than for Republicans to face a defeat of 49-46 instead of 49-45. But that’s merely my perspective.”
Wray was appointed to the position by Trump himself in 2017 after Trump dismissed former FBI Director James Comey. A registered Republican, Wray has served as an Assistant Attorney General during the presidency of George W. Bush. He was approved with bipartisan support by the Senate, achieving a vote of 92-5 in that same year.
Nevertheless, Trump’s trust in Wray has diminished over time. Trump was allegedly contemplating firing Wray during his second term bid in 2020. Following the election, the FBI conducted a search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, which further fueled Trump’s frustration.
According to sources from The Wall Street Journal, several candidates have emerged in the search for a new director, including former Michigan Representative Mike Rogers and Kash Patel, a longtime advisor to Trump and former aide.
This strategy is not surprising for those closely following Trump’s expanding list of adversaries—Republicans in Congress began rallying against the FBI director in 2023 under Trump’s influence. Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced impeachment articles against Wray, claiming he utilized the agency as a “Federal police force” to target Trump’s opponents.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who chairs the House Oversight Committee, also declared his intention to hold the FBI director in contempt of Congress for not supplying his committee with a document linked to their inquiry into Hunter Biden’s business activities and his connections with his father.
Comer eventually withdrew the threats after Wray complied and permitted the committee to inspect the document weeks later.
In July, Trump demanded Wray’s resignation in a post on his Truth Social platform, alleging that he misled Congress during his testimony regarding Biden’s mental fitness for office.
