GOP Sen. Mike Rounds expresses support for FBI director a day after Trump picks his replacement
Sen. Mike Rounds on Sunday expressed support for FBI Director Christopher Wray, just one day after President-elect Donald Trump said he would nominate Kash Patel to lead the agency.
GOP Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., on Sunday expressed support for FBI Director Christopher Wray, just one day after President-elect Donald Trump said he would nominate Kash Patel to lead the agency as Wray’s replacement.
After Watergate, FBI directors have typically served 10-year terms to deter the bureau from being seen as a political tool for the president. Wray was previously nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate in 2017, so Trump would need to fire Wray or Wray would have to voluntarily step down before 2027 for Patel to take over.
“Chris Wray, who the president nominated the first time around — I think the president picked a very good man to be the director of the FBI when he did that in his first term,” Rounds said during an interview on ABC News’ “This Week.”
“When we meet with him behind closed doors, I’ve had no objections to the way that he’s handled himself, and so I don’t have any complaints about the way that he’s done his job right now,” Rounds added about Wray.
Still, Rounds said that he would evaluate Patel and Trump’s other Cabinet nominees fairly during the Senate’s “advise and consent” process. Patel will have to be confirmed by a majority vote of the full Senate after he is formally nominated, something that cannot happen until after Trump is inaugurated in January.
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