Several Republican lawmakers fell in line on Sunday behind President-elect Donald J. Trump’s plan to choose Kash Patel to lead the F.B.I., defending the incoming president’s right to install a loyalist who has vowed to use the position to exact revenge on Mr. Trump’s adversaries.
Mr. Trump’s announcement on Saturday that he intends to replace Christopher A. Wray, the current F.B.I. director, who still has three years left on his 10-year term, with Mr. Patel has stunned Democrats and many in the national security establishment. Mr. Patel has said he would launch a sweeping campaign of retribution against F.B.I. agents, journalists and others.
F.B.I. directors are confirmed by the Senate, and Mr. Patel is likely to face tough questions at his confirmation hearings about whether the agency would remain free from political interference. While Republican Senate leaders remained quiet on Sunday, other senators in Mr. Trump’s party expressed their support.
Senator Bill Hagerty, Republican of Tennessee, said he had encouraged Mr. Trump to appoint Mr. Patel.
“There are serious problems at the F.B.I.,” Mr. Hagerty said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The American public knows it. They expect to see sweeping change, and Kash Patel is just the type of person to do it.”
Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, called Mr. Patel “a very strong nominee” to take on what he and other allies of Mr. Trump claim has been partisanship inside the F.B.I. because of its investigations into wrongdoing by the president-elect and his associates.
“All of the weeping and gnashing of teeth, all of the people pulling their hair out, are exactly the people who are dismayed about having a real reformer come into the F.B.I. and clean out the corrupted partisans who sadly have burrowed into senior career positions at the F.B.I.,” Mr. Cruz said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
And other allies of Mr. Trump issued statements on social media soon after the announcement, hoping to demonstrate strong support for the nomination.
Speaker Mike Johnson called Mr. Patel “an America First patriot who will bring much-needed change and transparency to the F.B.I.” Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama and a fierce Trump loyalist, called Mr. Patel “the perfect pick.”
Even Representative Mike Lawler, who represents a swing district in New York, said he supported Mr. Trump’s right to nominate Mr. Patel.
“Donald Trump campaigned on reforming the F.B.I. and the Department of Justice, so I don’t know why any of this is frankly surprising to people,” Mr. Lawler said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “The American people aren’t interested in a revenge tour. But obviously if people did wrong in their official capacities, that’s something they should be concerned about.”
Democrats expressed dismay at the choice, calling Mr. Patel little more than an instrument of Mr. Trump’s promised revenge.
“Apparently he has demonstrated too much independence and objectivity in the job for Donald Trump, who wants much more of a personal loyalist in the position,” Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland said of Mr. Wray on CNN.
Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, declined to comment on the announcement but expressed support for Mr. Wray.
“What makes the F.B.I. director different from most other nominees is they’re not just appointed for one term of a president,” Mr. Sullivan said on CNN. “They’re appointed for enough time to last past two terms of a president, because they’re supposed to be insulated from politics.”
Mr. Trump said in his statement Saturday evening that he intended to nominate Mr. Patel but did not say whether he would fire Mr. Wray, whom he appointed in 2017, or if he expected him to resign when Mr. Trump takes office next month.
The question of whether Mr. Patel would be independent from White House interference is likely to be at the center of questions from senators if Mr. Trump follows through with the nomination.
Karl Schmae, a former F.B.I. agent, said Mr. Trump’s announcement represented “a sad day for all the men and women working at the F.B.I. and ultimately for all of us.” He said Mr. Wray had served with “bravery and integrity” during tough investigations into both Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden.
Senator Mike Rounds, Republican of South Dakota, said on Sunday that he supported Mr. Trump’s right to pick whom he wanted to lead the law enforcement agency but added that he had no concerns about Mr. Wray’s tenure as F.B.I. director.
Mr. Rounds, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, also hinted at the possibility that his colleagues in the Senate might eventually decide not to consent to Mr. Patel or other nominations.
“We still go through a process,” Mr. Rounds said, “and that process includes advice and consent — which for the Senate means advice or consent, sometimes.”
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