Updated at 2:40 p.m. with White House confirmation that Cornyn is under consideration, at 6:15 with report that Cornyn will interview for the job interview on Saturday, and Saturday at 9 a.m. with Trump comments.

WASHINGTON — The FBI needs a new director. Texas Sen. John Cornyn is a former judge who may be itching for a new opportunity, and he likely would sail through a confirmation process that might trip up other contenders.

Does that make for a match?

Cornyn will interview for the post on Saturday with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

A White House aide confirmed Friday afternoon that Cornyn is one of 11 people under consideration to replace James Comey, the FBI chief fired Tuesday night by President Donald Trump amid an ongoing investigation of Russian meddling in the U.S. election last year.

By evening, multiple news outlets were reporting that Cornyn was one of four candidates scheduled for a job interview on Saturday, along with acting FBI director Andrew McCabe; Alice Fisher, a former assistant attorney general who previously led the Justice Department's criminal division; and Judge Michael Garcia of the New York State Court of Appeals.

Cornyn didn't reject the possibility but said that leaving the job Texas voters picked him for in 2002, 2008 and 2014 is not his focus.

"I have the distinct privilege of serving 28 million Texans in the United States Senate, and that is where my focus remains," he said through an aide.

Trump could name a new FBI director within a week, perhaps before leaving for Saudi Arabia on Friday for his first foreign trip as president.

"We can make a fast decision," he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday morning before heading to Lynchburg, Va., to deliver a commencement address at Liberty University. As for the candidates, he described them as "outstanding people," "very well known" and "highest level."

JUST IN: interviewing for FBI Chief job tomorrow at DOJ: Alice Fisher (former DOJ); John Cornyn; Andy McCabe; and NY Judge Micahel Garcia. — Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS) May 12, 2017

New: Sat interviews for FBI director are Sen. Cornyn, McCabe (FBI), Alice Fisher (Latham), and Judge Michael Garcia (NY Ct of Appeals) — Laura Jarrett (@LauraAJarrett) May 12, 2017

The Trump administration's not-so-short list of nearly a dozen contenders — reported earlier Friday by Fox News — includes three current or former federal lawmakers. Besides Cornyn, Trump is considering Mike Rogers, former House Intelligence Committee chairman and a former FBI agent, and Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., a former prosecutor who led the Benghazi investigation that dogged Hillary Clinton.

Picking Gowdy would electrify Trump's support base, though it also would send up partisan alarms.

Cornyn would be less exciting to tea partiers, though his partisan credentials are impeccable.

Before his election in 2002, he served as Texas attorney general — a post that doesn't entail nearly as much law enforcement as many law-and-order candidates suggest during their campaigns — and as a justice on the Texas Supreme Court.

He's currently the majority whip, the No. 2 Senate leader. But unless Majority Leader Mitch McConnell steps aside, Cornyn's rise in leadership has peaked. McConnell can run the Senate as long as colleagues keep reelecting him. Lower posts come with term limits. So Cornyn would be forced from the leadership at the end of 2018, which could make this opportunity intriguing.

One senior Republican Senate aide said that in the Senate, the focus is on finding an FBI director with a law enforcement background, rather than a politician.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he'll put a high premium on independence from the president.

Yet whoever takes the FBI job will be on notice that Trump will expect personal loyalty. In a Friday morning tweet storm, Trump issued a vague but ominous threat suggesting that some of his conversations with Comey have been recorded.

James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017

White House spokesman Sean Spicer declined to say whether Trump records conversations.

"The president has nothing further to say on that," Spicer said at the daily briefing. "That's not a threat. He simply stated a fact."

Trump's tweets came after reports that he had asked Comey to pledge loyalty to him over dinner shortly after he took office as president, and that Comey declined, offering instead his "honesty." The White House, including Vice President Mike Pence, initially maintained that Trump fired Comey over his handling of the Clinton email investigation, and on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy.

On Thursday, Trump contradicted those talking points, telling NBC News that he planned to fire Comey well before the recommendations, and because Trump simply felt that Comey wasn't doing a good job. He also denounced Comey as a "showboat."

Spicer denied any demand for personal loyalty.

"The president wants loyalty to this country and to the rule of law," he said.

The list of contenders to replace Comey also reportedly includes:

Ray Kelly, the former and longest-serving New York City police commissioner

Mike Rogers, former House Intelligence Committee chairman and former FBI agent

Paul Abbate, executive assistant director for the FBI's Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch

Mayor of Colorado Springs John Suthers

Former federal appellate court Judge Michael Luttig, now executive vice president of Boeing

Larry Thompson, former deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush

The day after Comey's firing, Cornyn brushed aside speculation that he might fill the vacancy, telling the Texas Tribune that "I'm happy serving my state and my country."

Staff Writer Katie Leslie contributed to this report.