JD Vance Reveals New Details on FBI Director Search in Now Deleted Post

Vice President-elect JD Vance revealed details about the search for a new FBI director in a since deleted post to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
Vance, a Republican who serves as a senator from Ohio, responded to conservative criticism pertaining to a handful of Republicans missing a vote on the confirmation of Judge Embry Kidd to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Kidd was appointed by President Joe Biden, who is set to leave office in January.
In that post, Vance wrote that his vote wouldn’t have made a difference because Democrats would have been able to muster enough votes to push Kidd’s nomination through, and that he was occupied with interviewing potential picks for President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, including a new FBI director.
“When this 11th Circuit vote happened, I was meeting with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director,” Vance wrote.
He continued, “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.”
The since deleted tweet is the first indication from the incoming administration that it plans to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray.
In a statement to Newsweek, Trump-Vance Transition Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “President-Elect Trump is making decisions on who will serve in his second Administration. Those decisions will continue to be announced by him when they are made.”
FBI directors typically serve 10-year terms but can be removed by the president. Wray was appointed by Trump in 2017, replacing James Comey, who was chosen by former President Barack Obama in 2013. If Wray is not removed by Trump, his term would be expected to end in 2027.
Trump has been critical of Wray and federal law enforcement agencies. In July, he called on Wray to resign over his comments that had not observed cognitive decline in Biden.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team for comment via email on Tuesday.
Former agents, high-ranking officials and analysts previously told Newsweek that Trump could oversee the departure of Wray and other high-ranking officials, and that Wray may choose to resign, rather than be fired by the incoming president.
Kash Patel, former defense attorney, federal prosecutor and national security official who is a close ally to Trump, has been floated as a potential replacement for Wray, although the president-elect has not officially confirmed that Patel is under consideration.
Former FBI Special Agent Daniel Brunner told CNN that Patel leading the agency would be “extremely dangerous” due to his lack of “traditional” experience.
Vance did not say whom he and Trump interviewed for the position in his X post.
Update 11/19/24, 6:45 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional comment.