Who will be Trump’s FBI Director? Three potential candidates

Donald Trump’s transition team is said to be interviewing potential candidates for the next FBI director, a sign that the bureau’s current leader, Christopher Wray, will be replaced.

Vice President-elect JD Vance said in a since-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter, that he was absent from a Senate vote for one of President Joe Biden‘s judicial picks as he was meeting with Trump to “interview multiple positions for our government,” including for FBI director.

“I tend to think it’s 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,” Vance added.

The president-elect and Vance have not indicated who might replace Wray as director, but a number of loyalists, such as former Trump administration aide Kash Patel, former Republican Representative Mike Rogers, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, are potential front-runners.

The names, along with Vance’s suggestion that the next director will target the “deep state,” indicate that the president-elect is keen to install a new head who may protect him from any potential investigations. The Republican has long accused the Biden administration of “weaponizing” the FBI against him, with agents searching his Mar-a-Lago home for classified materials in August 2022.

Newsweek has contacted the Trump transition team, the FBI, and offices for Patel, Rogers, and Paxton for comment via email.

Kash Patel

Patel, a former federal prosecutor, is considered the favorite to be the next FBI director and has received backing from top Trump allies such as Steve Bannon.

His previous experience also includes working on the National Security Council in 2019 during the first Trump administration, as well as serving as chief of staff to Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller in Trump’s final months in office.

Patel served as an aide to former California Congressman Devin Nunes, who was the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee that fought to discredit the Russia 2016 election interference investigation.

Nunes is currently the chief executive officer of the Trump Media & Technology Group, where Kash is a board member.

Patel is also a staunch supporter of the president-elect and has expressed his desire to target the “deep state” in government.

He testified in the federal investigation into Trump’s hoarding of classified materials. Patel told Breitbart News in May 2022 that he had been present when the former president “declassified whole sets of materials” prior to leaving office.

A Kash Foundation spokesperson recently told Newsweek that discussions about his role in Trump’s next administration are nothing “beyond unfounded rumors circulating.”

Former FBI Special Agent Daniel Brunner has spoken out against Patel becoming the bureau’s next director, claiming he would do “massive damage.”

“Putting someone like Kash Patel in the position of director of the FBI is, I believe, extremely, extremely dangerous,” Brunner told CNN on Sunday. “There is nothing on his resume other than three years as a line U.S. attorney at the DOJ [Department of Justice].”

“He has clearly stated that he wants to exact revenge upon those who have investigated President Trump and those around him.”

Mike Rogers

The Republican who recently lost the Michigan Senate race to Democrat Elissa Slotkin is another name said to be in the running for the FBI director role.

Rogers has experience in the bureau, having worked as an FBI special agent before entering politics.

The former member of Congress representing Michigan’s 8th Congressional District also chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Rogers is said to have met with Trump’s transition team at Mar-a-Lago to discuss potentially serving as the next director, according to Fox News.

An unnamed source told Fox News that it would “make a ton of sense” for Rogers to be named head of the bureau, given his experience.

“Mike’s years of service for the bureau, as well as his time as House intelligence chairman, make him highly qualified for the position—one that I’m sure he would be honored to serve in under this administration and help bring integrity back to the DOJ,” they said.

Rogers was under consideration for the FBI director role when Trump fired James Comey in 2017.

Ken Paxton

The Texas attorney general is another Trump loyalist whose legal career makes him a potential candidate for FBI director.

However, Paxton’s own legal issues suggest he may be more of a long-shot candidate than the others.

Paxton was impeached by the GOP-majority Texas House of Representatives in May 2023 over a range of allegations of corruption and bribery, but was eventually acquitted. The attorney general is reported to be under FBI investigation over corruption allegations, meaning criminal charges could still be brought against him.

Paxton himself said this month that Patel would be a “fantastic” choice for FBI director.

Can Trump Fire the FBI Director?

Directors serve a 10-year term, meaning that Wray could be in the role until 2027. However, the president has the power to dismiss the bureau’s chief for any reason.

In May 2017, Trump fired former FBI director James Comey. The administration said it was due to his handling of the investigation into 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton‘s use of a private email server.

The termination came three months after Trump reportedly asked Comey to back away from investigating former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn over alleged ties to Russia.