Wray, a Trump appointee President Joe Biden did not remove, has three years left to serve in his ten-year term. Sullivan said that while he would not respond directly to Patel’s nomination, the Biden administration prefers Wray finish his term to follow precedent.
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“We, the Biden administration, adhere to the long-standing norm that FBI directors serve out their full terms because the FBI director is a unique player in the American government system,” Sullivan said on NBC News’s Meet the Press on Sunday. “They’re appointed for ten-year terms, not terms just for the duration of a given president.”
“We would like to ensure that the FBI remains an independent institution insulated away from politics,” Sullivan added.
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When speaking on CNN’s State of the Union the same day, Sullivan again emphasized the long-standing tradition of keeping the FBI politically neutral by having FBI directors serve their full ten-year terms.
Trump, in his first term, fired then-FBI director James Comey less than four years into Comey’s term. The GOP leader then nominated Wray to take over his post. Wray was confirmed by the Senate by a 92–5 vote.
Wray suggested in an interview with NBC News this spring that he’d like to stay in his job if Trump won, as long as the FBI can maintain its longstanding standards of not bringing politics into its investigations.
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“As long as I think I can continue doing that in a way that adheres to all those rules and norms, it’s what I’d like to keep doing,” he told the outlet.
Republicans have, however, accused the FBI of indeed acting politically in its investigations, prompting their calls for changes within the agency and the nomination of Patel to oversee this.
