U.S. Senate set to vote on Christopher Wray as FBI director

The United States Senate is set to vote on President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the FBI on Tuesday.

The vote is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Tuesday (U.S. Time).

Wray received bipartisan support during his confirmation hearing, when he promised lawmakers that he was outside the President's sphere of influence.

He also said he would resist any efforts to politicise the bureau as it helps investigate Trump aides' involvement with Russia.

Wray testifed before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 12, which set him to be confirmed by the full Senate.

Wray's hearing came more than two months after President Trump abruptly fired former director James Comey, who had led the bureau since September 2013.

Trump said Comey's dismissal was based on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and on the handling of the probe into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

Comey was fired in mid May when he was leading the investigation into the Russian interference in 2016 Presidential election and potential links. Trump allegedly demanded Comey's "loyalty" pledge and urged Comey to drop his ongoing investigation into Flynn.

Following this, reports mounted that Trump asked Comey if he was under investigation in a separate FBI probe, and sought to have Comey end an investigation into former top administration official Michael Flynn.

Flynn had resigned as national security advisor in February following revelations about his interactions with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's Ambassador to the United States.