If you have not been paying attention to current events, you may not realize that FBI Director James Comey is back at stage center in Congress again. Some Trump supporters on the right view him as a loose cannon and a danger to the Trump Presidency. Would Donald Trump fire him? Maybe and maybe not. Can he do it? He can do it in a heartbeat and here is why and how.

As Written By Max Kutner for Newsweek:

FBI Director James Comey was scheduled to testify before lawmakers on Thursday about the bureau’s investigation into Russian tampering with the presidential election. Comey has said that investigation will also look at whether Russia colluded with President Donald Trump’s campaign. Meanwhile, the president said as recently as Tuesday that the “Trump/Russia” issue is “phony,” and he hinted he could decide to dismiss the FBI director.

When he took office, Trump decided to keep Comey, who was appointed by President Barack Obama but had also been a registered Republican and worked under President George W. Bush. Even so, Trump in April told Fox Business Network that “it’s not too late” to ask Comey to step down, adding, “I have confidence in him. We’ll see what happens. It’s going to be interesting.” He has also said Comey “saved” his election opponent, Hillary Clinton.

It’s not unusual for a United States president to spar with his FBI director. Since 1968, toward the end of J. Edgar Hoover’s nearly 50-year tenure leading the bureau, FBI directors have had 10-year term limits and cannot be reappointed. While that is meant to curb their power, it also means they can outlast even two-term presidents. (Congress and Obama granted Comey’s predecessor, Robert Mueller III, special permission to serve an extra two years.) The president nominates the FBI director, and the Senate confirms the nomination. The director serves within the Department of Justice, under the attorney general. He or she also reports to the director of national intelligence.

The president can also fire the FBI director, even without a stated reason for doing so. “There are no statutory conditions on the president’s authority to remove the FBI director,” the Congressional Research Service wrote in a 2014 report. The director is “an at-will employee,” says Scott Bomboy of the National Constitution Center, meaning “he or she will serve at the will of the president.” Bomboy points to the Constitution’s “Advice and Consent” clause, which grants the president power to hire people to work for the executive branch, with congressional approval. “Once that person’s approved, it’s really up to the president as the head of the executive branch to determine their employment status,” he says……….

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Can President Donald Trump Fire FBI Director James Comey?