Report: Merrick Garland doesn’t want to be FBI director

Judge Merrick Garland is not interested in becoming the new director of the FBI, according to multiple reports.

Several Republicans have suggested Garland, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama last year to serve on the Supreme Court, as a possible replacement for former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by President Donald Trump last week.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) floated the idea of nominating Garland to serve as FBI director last week. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said he could support the idea.

"It may surprise people, but he has a deep background in criminal law, he was the prosecutor in the Oklahoma City bombing case and I think it would make it clear that President Trump will continue the tradition at the FBI of having an apolitical professional," McConnell said during an event with Bloomberg.

Reporters for NPR and CNN tweeted Tuesday that sources close to Garland, 64, told them he has no interest in taking the role.

McConnell’s remarks are notable because he refused to take up Garland’s nomination to the nation’s highest court in the Senate, arguing that the seat vacated by the late Justice Antonin Scalia should not be filled in an election year. Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, was confirmed in April.

(H/T: The Hill)