Trump, GOP control FBI chief pick despite Democrats’ calls
WASHINGTON — While Democrats may trot out any number of demands or maneuvers to influence the selection of the next director of the FBI, here’s a reality check: Republican President Donald Trump fired James Comey, and he and his party will decide who’s next.
And they’re not wasting time. Trump said Monday the selection process for a nominee for FBI director was “moving rapidly.”
Democrats irate over Comey’s abrupt ouster, and concerned by the inclusion of politicians on the list of possible replacements, are demanding Trump not select a partisan leader. Although they’re likely to mount considerable pressure before and during the confirmation process, they don’t control enough votes to influence the outcome since Republicans hold a 52-seat majority in the Senate.
“If they can keep all 52 together, then it won’t matter,” said Michael Gerhardt, a constitutional law professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. If Republicans “start to lose a couple, or two or three look like they’re not on board, that could create more pressure on the majority leader and the president to perhaps do something other than what they were planning on doing.”
The next director will immediately be confronted with oversight of an FBI investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, an inquiry the bureau’s acting head, Andrew McCabe, has called “highly significant.”
The person also will have to win the support of rank-and-file agents angered by the ouster of Comey, who was broadly supported within the FBI. And the new director will almost certainly have to work to maintain the bureau’s credibility by asserting political independence in the face of a president known for demanding loyalty from the people he appoints.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein interviewed eight candidates Saturday, including some who were not among the names distributed a day earlier by the White House. The list includes current and former FBI and Justice Department leaders, federal judges and Republicans who have served in Congress.
Among those interviewed was McCabe, though it’s not clear how seriously he’s being considered.
It’d be unusual for the White House to elevate an FBI agent to the role of director, and McCabe during a Senate hearing last week broke with the White House’s explanations for Comey’s firing and its dismissive characterization of the Russia investigation.
FBI directors have predominantly been drawn from the ranks of prosecutors and judges. Comey, for instance, was a former United States Attorney in Manhattan before being appointed deputy attorney general by George W. Bush. His predecessor, Robert Mueller, was a U.S. attorney in San Francisco.
One contender who could prove politically palatable is Michael Garcia, a former U.S. attorney in Manhattan with significant experience in terrorism and public corruption investigations. He was appointed by FIFA in 2012 to investigate World Cup bidding contests. He later resigned after he said the global soccer organization had mischaracterized a lengthy investigative report he had produced.
The FBI Agents Association has endorsed former Republican congressman Mike Rogers, an ex-FBI agent and former chair of the House intelligence committee who had collegial relationships with his Democratic counterparts.