The Senate on Thursday in a nearly party-line vote of 51-49 to confirm the nomination of Kash Patel to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Patel's nomination has been among the more contentious choices among President Donald Trump's nominees. Democrats in the Senate accused Patel of having an "enemy's list." Democrats claimed Patel created a list of President Trump's political opponents that would be subject to FBI investigations.
The entire Democratic caucus, along with Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted against Patel's nomination.
Collins cited recent layoffs within the FBI and the Department of Justice for her reasoning. Collins also noted a questionnaire that was sent to FBI officials to gauge their level of involvement in cases surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
“In this context, there is a compelling need for an FBI Director who is decidedly apolitical," Collins said. "While Mr. Patel has had 16 years of dedicated public service, his time over the past four years has been characterized by high profile and aggressive political activity. 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. Amy Klobuchar challenged Patel during a recent Judiciary Committee hearing, when she referenced a list in Patel's 2023 book "Government Gangsters."
Patel denied such a list exists.
“It’s not an enemies list. That is a total mischaracterization,” he said.
More broadly, Patel denied accusations that he would use his office to seek political retribution.
"Any accusations leveled against me that I would somehow put political bias before the Constitution are grotesquely unfair," Patel said during the hearing. "And I will have you reminded that I have been endorsed by over 300,000 law enforcement officers to become the next director of the FBI."
The Senate Judiciary Committee previously approved Patel's nomination by a party-line vote of 12-10.
"Mr. Patel has undergone a rigorous vetting," Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said. "Before his hearing, he produced more than a thousand pages of records and disclosed over a thousand interviews. He underwent an FBI background investigation, produced a financial disclosure, and worked with ethics officials to identify and resolve potential conflicts of interest. At his hearing, he answered questions for more than five hours and provided 147 pages of responses to written questions. We’ve examined every detail of his life, and he’s been subjected to relentless attack on his character the whole time."
The mere fact that an FBI director did not stay on during the change of administrations is in and of itself controversial. Before President Trump's first term, it was customary for FBI directors to serve out 10-year terms. For instance, after President Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey months into his first term, he appointed Christopher Wray.
Wray ended up staying on as FBI director throughout nearly all of President Joe Biden's tenure in the White House. Wray resigned one day before President Trump returned to office after Trump had said during the transition that he would fire Wray.
