The Senate confirmed the president's June nomination of the former Bush Justice Department official with a 93-1 vote with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voting against the pick.
James Comey, a Republican who served as deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush, was confirmed by the Senate on Monday to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation. His nomination passed with a 93-1 vote.
President Obama named him in June to succeed Robert Mueller as the FBI director. Comey will take over in September after Mueller steps down from his 12-year post at the agency, a position he has held since one week before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul, of Kentucky, voted “no” on Comey’s nomination because of questions about the agency’s use of drones on U.S. soil.
Comey clashed with Vice President Dick Cheney and nearly resigned as deputy attorney general in 2004 after discovering the Bush administration’s domestic surveillance program had operated outside the law.
Confirmations of three new members to the National Labor Relations Board are expected this week after the Senate labor committee recently voted to advance the president’s nominations.
Obama was accused earlier this year by both Republicans and Democrats of only appointing all-male Cabinet members and not diversifying the executive leaders during his second term.