The Senate confirmed Kash Patel as the next FBI director, clearing one of Donald Trump’s most controversial nominees who has previously bashed the agency and amplified a conspiracy theory that it had a role in the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
The vote was 51-49. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined all Democrats and independents in voting against the confirmation.
Democrats hammered Patel in his confirmation hearing last month. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, called for an investigation into whether Patel, still a private citizen, had directed a purge of top FBI officials. Citing information from whistleblowers, Durbin said that it raised the prospect that Patel lied to the committee.
Patel also has been confronted with past statements calling for retribution against Trump’s critics. Those fears were exacerbated by reports that the FBI has distributed a questionnaire to agents about their work on January 6th cases.
In a statement explaining her vote, Collins said, “Mr. Patel has made numerous politically charged statements in his book and elsewhere discrediting the work of the FBI, the very institution he has been nominated to lead. These statements, in conjunction with the questionnaire sent to thousands of FBI employees, cast doubt on Mr. Patel’s ability to advance the FBI’s law enforcement mission in a way that is free from the appearance of political motivation.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who voted against Pete Hegseth’s nomination as secretary of defense and Robert Kennedy Jr.’s nomination as secretary of health and human services, voted in favor of Patel.
“The Bureau’s reputation in recent years has been plagued by high-profile scandals that risk politicizing its critical work,” McConnell said. “Director Patel has committed to restoring Americans’ trust in the FBI, and I hope and expect he will move quickly to reset the Bureau with greater transparency, accountability, and cooperation with the Congress.”
Yet Democrats warn that Patel will be the very type of figure who brings partisanship to the FBI. Ahead of his confirmation hearing, they pointed to a social media post that Patel had shared in which he was depicted using a chain saw to sever the heads of media organizations and various members of Congress.
