It’s the 12 Days of Ballotpedia! Your gift powers the trusted, unbiased information voters need heading into 2026. Donate now!
Senate confirms James Comey as next FBI director
July 30, 2013
Washington, D.C.: The U.S. Senate approved President Obama's nomination of James Comey to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[1][2][3] The Senate voted 93-1 on July 29 to confirm Comey, who will succeed Robert Mueller in the post.[4][1][3] The lone no vote came from Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R).[1][5]
Comey's nomination received bipartisan support after Paul withdrew his hold on the nomination after the FBI responded on July 29 to Paul's questions on domestic use of surveillance drones.[1][3] That letter said the FBI has seldom used drones and cited Supreme Court rulings that the agency said suggested that court warrants are not needed for aerial surveillance.[3]
In a statement Rand Paul said, "The FBI today responded to my questions on domestic use of surveillance drones by saying that they don't necessarily need a warrant to deploy this technology...I disagree with this interpretation. However, given the fact that they did respond to my concerns over drone use on U.S. soil, I have decided to release my hold on the pending FBI director nominee."[4]
Paul had threatened for weeks to block Comey's nomination until the FBI revealed more details about its use of drones in the U.S.[3] He had written three letters to the FBI since June, seeking details on the agency's use of drones and the policies it follows in deploying them.[3][6]
Comey is the only FBI Director since J. Edgar Hoover's death to receive a vote against confirmation.[7] The FBI director serves a fixed, 10-year term, but President Obama sought and received Senate approval to extend Mueller's term for an additional two years in 2011.[1]
See also
External links
Footnotes
|
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 USA Today, "Senate approves James Comey for FBI Director" accessed July 30, 2013
- ↑ Fox News, "Senate approves James Comey as new FBI director" accessed July 30, 2013
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Huffington Post, "James Comey Confirmed By Senate To Lead FBI" accessed July 30, 2013
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 CBS News, "Senate confirms James Comey as FBI director" accessed July 30, 2013
- ↑ The Verge, "Senate confirms James Comey as next director of FBI after Rand Paul ends hold" accessed July 30, 2013
- ↑ Politico, "Senate confirms James Comey for FBI," July 29, 2013 (accessed July 30, 2013)
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedPolitico
| |||||
