WASHINGTON, July 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee Thursday voted to send the nomination of James B. Comey for the next FBI director to the Senate for a floor vote.
If confirmed by the Senate, Comey would replace Robert S. Mueller III, who is required to vacate his post as head of the FBI on Sept. 3.
Comey has bipartisan support and will likely be confirmed by the end of the month, The New York Times said.
Sen. Rand Paul, the Republican of Kentucky who filibustered the nomination of John O. Brennan to become the Central Intelligence Agency director for 13 hours in March, told Fox News on Tuesday that he would not stand in the way of Comey's nomination.
Paul said he may seek to place a hold on Comey's nomination in hopes of forcing the administration to answer questions about its use of drone strikes against Americans.
"A hold is like the beginning of a filibuster and should they bring it to the floor and I choose to speak like I did on the drone subject earlier, then as long as I can speak. I can stop the debate," Paul said.
