Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will stay on in his role until special counsel Robert Mueller wraps up his Russia probe, according to sources who spoke with NBC News.

Earlier reports said Rosenstein, who oversaw the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, would step down in the coming weeks around the time William Barr, Trump's pick for attorney general, would take office after a Senate confirmation.

Barr's hearing is set to begin Tuesday.

NBC said Rosenstein would likely stay on through March, though there is not a firm timeline. Mueller is expected to finish his work by mid-to-late February.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Wednesday Rosenstein had "always planned to roughly stay around two years. My guess is that he is making room for the new attorney general to build a team that he wants around him."

CNN said Barr told the White House he wanted his own deputy.

Trump has consistently slammed Rosenstein and called the Mueller investigation a "witch hunt."

Rosenstein considered resigning in September after reports surfaced he discussed wearing a "wire" to secretly record conversations with Trump in the Oval Office last year and discussed the possibility of Cabinet officials invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president. Rosenstein insisted he was making a joke.