Support for Judge Merrick Garland to be considered as a candidate for the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is growing within the White House, FOX Business has learned. 
 
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 During a conference call Wednesday, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) suggested to White House officials, including chief of staff Reince Priebus, that Garland should be under consideration to replace James Comey as FBI director after he was abruptly fired from the post last Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter. 
 
 Priebus agreed, according to numerous sources, and said including Garland on the list of candidates was “worthy of a conversation and consideration.” 
 
 The other officials on the call, the same people who spoke with Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) in a private meeting last Wednesday, had a mixed reaction to the idea of Garland leading the FBI. 
 
 When asked about Garland being considered as a possible Comey replacement during the White House briefing on Monday, Press Secretary Sean Spicer did not confirm or deny that he’s being considered for the job and referred all questions to the Department of Justice. “The search for the FBI director is being handled by the Department of Justice. My expectation would be that once they are done conducting that search they will present names for consideration to the president but they are the ones leading that effort,” Spicer said. 
 
 White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters did not respond to FOX Business’ request for comment. 
 
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 The DOJ also did not respond to calls for comment. 
 
 A spokesperson for Hatch would not comment and would not confirm or deny the substance of the conversation. 
 
 As FOX Business first reported, Lee made his pitch on Wednesday during a private gathering at the White House with senior administration officials, including Vice President Mike Pence and White House counsel Don McGahn, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. When Lee floated the possibility of appointing Garland as Comey’s replacement, the reception was mostly positive, with Pence and McGahn seeing merit in the idea. However, others in attendance said it was a non-starter given Garland's affiliation with the Obama administration. 
 
 Among those who voiced doubt was White House staff secretary Rob Porter. Garland is currently the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals and while Republicans in Congress successfully blocked his appointment by President Obama to the Supreme Court during the 2016 presidential campaign, his legal credentials are well-established having served as both a prosecutor and corporate lawyer. 
 
 Priebus is just the latest name added to the growing list of White House officials and Congressional lawmakers who support having Garland added to the list of candidates under consideration for the top job at the FBI. 
 
 In an interview with FOX Business, Josh Holmes, the former chief of staff for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and current president of Cavalry LLC, which handles media relations and issue management strategies for Fortune 500 companies, said he spoke with his former boss on Sunday and was told that he supports Garland’s candidacy. 
 
 “In the conversation I had with him, he [McConnell] told me that he’s extremely qualified, he has experience as a prosecutor, somebody who understands law enforcement, understands action in all forms of law enforcement and he would have Democratic support,” Holmes said. 
 
 McConnell’s spokesperson declined to comment on the conversation between Holmes and the senator. 
 
 Sen. Orrin Hatch publicly threw his support behind Garland at a press conference Thursday. “Merrick Garland is a very fine fellow. There’s never been an issue with Merrick Garland,” he told reporters. “Merrick is a very fine man. I like Merrick.” 
 
 Hatch also confirmed that he proposed Garland to the White House but did not elaborate or give any details on the conversation. 
 
 Democrats, who largely supported Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court, are unsurprisingly also on board with his consideration for the FBI position. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) responded to Sen. Lee’s proposal with support of her own. 
 
 Good idea @SenMikeLee. Former prosecutor Merrick Garland for FBI Director is great idea. Need special prosecutor toohttps://t.co/HjMdwIGxAq — Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) May 11, 2017 
 
 A spokesperson for Lee said the senator has still not reached out to Garland about becoming the new FBI chief but is considering sending a formal e-mail to the White House to continue to push for his name to be added to the FBI director short list. 

 Joshua Roberts/Reuters 
 
 In the event you weren’t quite convinced that the White House could turn the governance of America into the world’s most elaborate game of Clue, some Republicans are now floating the name of Merrick Garland to replace ousted FBI Director James Comey. 
 
 That’s right, Merrick Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 
 
 Dahlia Lithwick Dahlia Lithwick writes about the courts and the law for Slate and hosts the podcast Amicus. 
 
 
 
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 Merrick Garland, the jurist who couldn’t get a hearing, or even a cup of cold coffee, from the Republican-controlled Senate after President Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court. 
 
 Merrick the Invisible Boy Garland. 
 
 Unless there is some other Merrick Garland who Ted Cruz has been hiding in a closet somewhere, this is the very same guy who was, as Orrin Hatch once put it, “a fine man,” a “consensus nominee,” and a “moderate” until he became, upon being nominated by Obama, part “of a voting bloc on the court that consistently upholds abortion on demand” and “the most anti-gun nominee in recent history.” So when Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah decides that poor Garland would be the perfect pick to be the next FBI director, one might reasonably wonder which Garland he’s talking about. Does this mean Garland is a “fine man” again? Or is this just the latest humiliation to be visited upon the man Republicans have spent the last year smacking around like a cat toy? 
 
 This all started on Tuesday, when University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone puckishly suggested that Garland should be tapped as the new FBI director. Then, on Wednesday night, the idea was floated seriously, one supposes, by the Daily Caller, which recommended Garland on account of his “national reputation for thorough, vigorous prosecutions. He led the trial team that brought a successful death penalty case against Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, and directed the prosecution of unabomber Ted Kaczynski from Washington. His ascent in the department was meteoric, and the legacy he left won bipartisan acclaim.” 
 
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 Great Scott! This man sounds amazing. Why hasn’t the nation heard tell of him yet? 
 
 The Daily Caller was quick to note that Garland’s move to the FBI would also clear a seat on the critically important D.C. Circuit, thus allowing Trump to appoint a conservative to a court on which at this moment there are seven Democratic appointees and four Republican ones. Deploying the same impeccable logic that allowed the White House to convince itself that Democrats would celebrate the firing of Comey because they like Hillary Clinton more than the rule of law, the Caller argued that Democrats would be insane hypocrites to oppose the choice of Garland for the FBI gig: “Senate Democrats joined the previous administration in offering uniformly glowing assessments of Garland’s quality and experience. None could now plausibly marshal a convincing case against him, after mounting a year-long campaign to secure him a spot on the nation’s highest tribunal.” 
 
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 Lee then made his support for Garland public on Thursday morning, explaining in a TV interview, “I would imagine that this might be a post that might interest [Garland], and it might be a post that he could serve in very effectively.” A Lee staffer told the Hill this suggestion was not meant to be hilarious, saying, “He’s eminently qualified and has the reputation needed to restore public confidence in [the] FBI.” A Fox Business News reporter then appeared to suggest that Vice President Mike Pence and White House Counsel Don McGahn are on board, too. It’s an idea everyone can get behind! Maybe Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan want the gig, too! They can all be FBI directors! 
 
 Never mind that last October, when explaining why he would not grant Garland so much as a hearing for the vacancy at the high court, Lee said Garland could not be independent enough to be trusted because “the last Democratic nominee to the Supreme Court … who voted independently was Byron White.” Lee cautioned that “Democrats vote in lock step. … That is how it works. I don’t think Merrick Garland would be any different.” 
 
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 So, Garland is independent enough to head the FBI but not independent enough to be on the high court. Or, wait. Maybe he wasn’t independent enough back in October but he’s independent enough now. Your guess is as good as mine. 
 
 Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, for some reason, is buying what Lee is selling. 
 
 Good idea @SenMikeLee. Former prosecutor Merrick Garland for FBI Director is great idea. Need special prosecutor toohttps://t.co/HjMdwIGxAq — Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) May 11, 2017 
 
 Putting aside this inexplicable Survivor-level reality show alliance with the enemy team, this Garland gambit seems to be an 11th-hour effort by Lee to add his name to the mix of young Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee who are grievously concerned about Trump’s actions and also running for the White House in 2020. (If there is still an America.) 
 
 Lee was a never Trumper back in the fall. And he’s doubtless a bit sad that Ben Sasse and Jeff Flake managed to get out ahead of him on looking grievously concerned about the Comey ouster this week. There is no cost to Lee in suggesting Garland for this job. It amounts, as Elizabeth Wydra of the Constitutional Accountability Center notes in an email, to little more than a headline that reads “Mike Lee wants to replace Merrick Garland with a conservative on the D.C. Circuit.”
– Mitch McConnell didn't want Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court, but he does think Garland would be a good choice to head the FBI in the wake of James Comey's firing. "It may surprise people, but he has a deep background in criminal law, he was the prosecutor in the Oklahoma City bombing case, and I think it would make it clear that President Trump will continue the tradition at the FBI of having an apolitical professional," the Senate majority leader said during an appearance on Bloomberg, per the Hill. He said he has made the recommendation to President Trump. McConnell also said that Garland's selection would signal "a bipartisan approach" at the FBI, and that he would likely enjoy bipartisan support in the Senate. But the Hill points out that Democrats probably don't want Garland leaving a lifetime Court of Appeals appointment for a 10-year FBI appointment—which could be cut even shorter if Trump sees fit. Still, Fox Business reports that Garland is gaining support from other corners: Sen. Orrin Hatch also recently suggested to White House officials that Garland be considered to head the FBI, and sources say chief of staff Reince Priebus agreed with the recommendation. Over at Slate, Dahlia Lithwick explains that the Garland idea was born last week, and calls it "the most amazing Republican troll job yet."