The search for a new FBI director to replace the fired James Comey is well underway and President Trump has promised he will nominate someone by the end of this week.

The Department of Justice is conducting interviews this weekend with as many as 14 potential nominees. And the association representing FBI agents has weighed in, recommending former congressman Mike Rogers to fill the position.

“Chairman Rogers exemplifies the principles that should be possessed by the next FBI Director,” Thomas F. O’Connor, president of the FBI Agents Association, said in a statement.

The association cited Rogers’ experience previously serving in the FBI in addition to his time in Congress to explain their endorsement.

“It is essential that the next FBI Director understand the details of how Agents do their important work," the statement continued. “Rogers’ unique and diverse experience will allow him to effectively lead the men and women of the Bureau as we work to protect our country from criminal and terrorist threats."

“During his time in Congress he showed a commitment to confronting threats to our country in a nonpartisan and collaborative manner.” 

Rogers is a former FBI special agent and is well liked on Capitol Hill. But the DoJ appears to be considering other candidates.

Chicago Tribune:

The first candidate to arrive for interviews was Alice Fisher, a high-ranking Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration.

Also interviewed were:

—Adam Lee, special agent in charge of the FBI's office in Richmond, Virginia.

—Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

—Michael J. Garcia, a former prosecutor and associate judge on New York's appeals court

— Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate leader and a former Texas attorney general.

—U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson, a Bush appointee who struck down the centerpiece of the Obama administration's health care law in 2010.

—Frances Townsend, former Bush homeland security and counterterrorism adviser.

—Former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, who was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. An ex-FBI agent, Rogers drew the backing of the FBI Agents Association, which said his diverse background makes him the best choice.

Fisher and Townsend were the only women on the list of candidates. The FBI has never had a female director.

Sessions has faced questions over whether his involvement in Comey's firing violates his pledge to recuse himself from investigations into Russian interference in the election. Some lawmakers have alleged the firing was an effort to stifle that FBI probe.

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said Sessions and Rosenstein were involved in the interviews because the FBI director reports to them as attorney general and deputy attorney general.

All of the candidates can be considered Washington insiders with a thorough knowledge of the bureau and the Justice Department bureaucracy. A politician like Cornyn or Rogers would probably have an easier time getting confirmed by the Senate.

Comey wasn't fired because he was pursuing the Russian investigation. Democrats are finding political advantage in making that claim, but it fails to stand up to scrutiny. Anyone the president names to succeed Comey will inherit the same investigation, the same agents, the same evidence that Comey was pursuing. There isn't much chance a new director will "go easy" on the president or his aides.

The political situation is extremely volatile right now and the president would be well advised to choose a candidate who would sail through the confirmation process.