After a recent flurry of administration appointments, President-elect Donald Trump is nearly done with choosing Cabinet nominees for a second White House term.
However, Trump still has yet to name a person for the FBI director who will replace current Director Christopher Wray next year.
Anticipation is also building around Trump’s nominee for deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency, who will be second in line behind former Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX), Trump’s CIA director nominee.
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Former Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers had been in the running for FBI director, but pushback from MAGA allies eventually led Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff, Dan Scavino, to denounce Rogers.
“Just spoke to President Trump regarding Mike Rogers going to the FBI. It’s not happening — In his own words, “I have never even given it a thought.” Not happening,” Scavino said, shooting down the speculation.
Firebrand Kash Patel is another FBI contender, but if Trump were to tap him, it could engender backlash comparable to former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s failed bid as the next attorney general.
Patel served in Trump’s first administration as an adviser on the National Security Council and authored Government Gangsters, which calls for a revamping of the Department of Justice
Establishment figures such as former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe pushed back against a Patel-led FBI.
“No part of the FBI’s mission is safe with Kash Patel in any position of leadership in the FBI and certainly not in the deputy director’s job,” McCabe told CNN’s The Source.
However, key MAGA supporters such as Turning Point Action’s Charlie Kirk said Patel “would make a great FBI Director.”
To bypass a contentious Senate confirmation hearing over Patel, Trump could choose him as deputy director of the CIA, a role that does not require Senate approval. It would still give him a powerful perch to wield large influence over the intelligence community.
However, Patel also faces competition from Cliff Sims, a key member of Trump’s transition team, for the CIA role and has garnered backlash from Trump insiders who think he is planting negative stories against Sims.
Sims previously served as deputy director of National Intelligence for Strategy and Communications and was director of White House Message Strategy under Trump.
The move would likely signal to Trump’s most fervent allies that he is serious about reforming the nation’s top law enforcement departments after Trump has spent years denouncing his legal problems as “lawfare.”
A GOP strategist with close ties to the Trump campaign told the Washington Examiner, “Yes, Trump is serious either way” about tapping Patel for either the FBI or CIA role and revamping how law enforcement works in Washington.
A transition source told Axios, “Kash has a lot of allies who think placing him in a top role would be well-received by the Trump base and send a clear message that Trump is serious about major reform to the justice and law-enforcement agencies.”
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Wray still has three years left as FBI director, but given Trump’s public commitments to reforming law enforcement, he is likely to be pushed out or retire before 2027.
Trump first chose Gaetz as his attorney general nominee precisely because the firebrand lawmaker would not hesitate to clean house in the Justice Department.
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The Washington Examiner reached out to the Trump transition team for comment. However, his campaign has closely guarded its decisions and even changed nominees after their announcements were leaked to the press.
“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,” said Karoline Leavitt, a Trump spokeswoman.