WASHINGTON — Several Republican lawmakers fell in line Sunday behind President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to choose Kash Patel to lead the FBI, defending the incoming president’s right to install a loyalist who has vowed to use the position to exact revenge on Trump’s adversaries.

Trump’s announcement Saturday that he intends to replace Christopher Wray, the current FBI director, who still has three years left on his 10-year term, with Patel has stunned Democrats and many in the national security establishment. Patel has said he would launch a sweeping campaign of retribution against FBI agents, journalists and others.

FBI directors are confirmed by the Senate, and Patel is likely to face tough questions at his confirmation hearings. While Republican Senate leaders remained quiet Sunday, others expressed their support.

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said he had encouraged Trump to appoint Patel.

“There are serious problems at the FBI,” Hagerty said “The American public knows it. They expect to see sweeping change, and Kash Patel is just the type of person to do it.”

Democrats expressed dismay at the choice, calling Patel little more than an instrument of Trump’s promised revenge.

“Apparently (Wray) has demonstrated too much independence and objectivity in the job for Donald Trump, who wants much more of a personal loyalist in the position,” Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said on CNN.