Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Tuesday called for the Senate to change the number of votes required for the confirmation of the permanent FBI director from 50 to 60 votes.
“I would hope that at this moment Republicans would retreat a little bit and I know it’s a tough one and make it – bring us back to the 60-vote threshold for the FBI director for one reason, so that the American people would see that this is a bipartisan vote,” Sanders said during a CNN town hall in Washington, D.C., Tuesday evening.
“But it we have a new FBI director that gets appointed by a 52-48 vote, I think that will be a bad thing for the country,” Sanders added.
Senate Democrats changed the rules to require 50 votes for more appointees with the exception of Supreme Court nominees.
The only other option, according to Sanders, is for Trump to nominate someone who is not affiliated with either political party.
“If you end up bringing forth somebody that both sides agree with, you end up with 80 or 90 votes, the American people will feel comforted,” Sanders said, noting that previous FBI directors received unanimous confirmation.
