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, "I was meeting with President 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," he added on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "But that's just me."
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.