Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte is well-regarded in the White House. | Getty Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte among Trump's candidates for FBI job

Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) is on the list of candidates to replace James Comey, while two confidants of President Donald Trump are seen as unlikely to get the nod, two U.S. government officials said Thursday.

The Trump allies not under serious consideration for the position — Chris Christie and Rudy Giuliani — have given advice to senior White House officials about the job, one person briefed on the conversations said, and Christie has been mentioned in some internal White House conversations. It was unclear whether the men expressed interest to the president in taking the job themselves.


Bloomberg News reported earlier that Mike Rogers, a former Michigan Republican congressman, was also under consideration.

Trump fired Comey as FBI director on Tuesday.

Ayotte is well-regarded in the White House, one official said, because of her success leading the nomination process for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said that she'd likely support Ayotte and that she could get bipartisan support as FBI director.

"She was attorney general of New Hampshire. And she has the experience. So I think she'd be a good candidate," Shaheen said in an interview.

Her spokesman said later Thursday, however, that Shaheen wants to get a special prosecutor in place before an FBI nominee is considered.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona also told reporters he wants to see Ayotte selected as FBI director, saying "she has widespread appreciation and respect here in the Senate on both sides of the aisle."

The president has begun calling friends in recent days to sound them out about the job and gripe about Comey and the news coverage of his departure, one official said. The White House didn't have a formal list of finalists when Trump fired Comey, the official said. Some allies are urging him not to pick a politician for the job and instead give it to a longtime FBI or Department of Justice official.

Seung Min Kim and Burgess Everett contributed to this report.