Former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers is no longer under consideration to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the incoming administration, according to a senior adviser to President-elect Trump.
Dan Scavino, who will serve as deputy chief of staff in the new White House, posted Friday on social media that a Rogers hire is “not happening.”
“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.
Rogers, the 2024 Republican Senate nominee in Michigan who lost his election last week by a razor-thin margin, was considered a leading candidate to be the next FBI director since Trump intends to fire the current director, Christopher Wray.
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Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee in Michigan, speaks at a Trump campaign rally headlined by running mate Sen. JD Vance, in Byron Center, Michigan, on Aug. 14. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
A Republican source familiar told Fox News Digital that Rogers met with Trump last week at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. He also met with Trump’s transition team to discuss potentially serving as FBI director, sources familiar said.
Trump transition spokesman Brian Hughes declined to comment on Scavino’s post specifically.
Former Rep. Mike Rogers, second from right, a Republican Senate candidate in Michigan, joins law enforcement officials in standing behind former President Trump at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on April 2. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
“For transition, we don’t speculate on selections and don’t get ahead of official announcements from President Trump,” he said.
Rogers told “FOX & Friends” earlier Friday that “the culture of the FBI on the seventh floor needs to be changed.”
Rogers, who worked as a special agent with the FBI in its Chicago office and served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee during the final four years of his decadelong tenure in Congress, was interviewed in 2017 during Trump’s first administration to serve as FBI director after James Comey was dismissed.
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FBI director nominee Christopher Wray testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on July 12, 2017. Trump is expected to fire Wray when he assumes office in January. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
But Trump at the time decided to appoint Christopher Wray to the traditional 10-year term steering the federal law enforcement agency.
Trump, throughout his 2024 White House bid, campaigned in part on cleaning house at the FBI and has repeatedly claimed — without providing proof — that the bureau is chocked full of politically motivated and corrupt executives. And while not as much as others, Wray at times has been a target of Trump’s criticism.
Another name that has been floated in media reports to potentially serve as FBI director in the second Trump administration is Kash Patel, the controversial aide and adviser who served roles at the National Security Council and Defense Department during the final two years of Trump’s first administration.
The Department of Justice declined to comment on Scavino ruling out Rogers.
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
