Washington — The Senate is scheduled to vote on Thursday regarding Kash Patel’s nomination to become the director of the FBI, with Republicans ready to confirm a significant ally of President Trump, despite Democrats’ warnings that he might use the bureau to target the president’s perceived adversaries.
FBI directors serve 10-year terms but can be removed by the sitting president. Chris Wray, appointed by the president in 2017, resigned at the end of the Biden administration after Mr. Trump announced his intention to dismiss him.
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Patel’s nomination along party lines with a 12-10 vote. The vote in the full Senate is set for 1:45 p.m. ET. While Democrats are unanimously opposed to Patel, Republicans maintain a three-seat majority, and no GOP senator has suggested they will vote against his nomination, indicating he is likely to be confirmed.
Turmoil at the FBI
Ben Curtis / AP
Patel would assume leadership of the FBI during a tumultuous period for the nation’s leading law enforcement agency as it faces allegations of being weaponized by Mr. Trump.
Last month, eight senior bureau officials were requested to resign or face termination due to increased scrutiny of FBI leadership by the Trump administration. These officials were in charge of the bureau’s national security, criminal, and cyber divisions, as reported by three sources to CBS News.
Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove also instructed Brian Driscoll, who was serving as acting director of the FBI until Patel’s appointment, to create a list of all current and former FBI personnel involved in the investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack for a review to assess if further personnel actions are needed.
A survey was distributed to specific FBI employees about their roles in the Jan. 6 investigations, including the extent of their involvement.
The FBI submitted a list of over 5,000 personnel who were part of the Jan. 6 cases last week. Initially, it included employee identification numbers instead of names, but Driscoll was later directed to identify employees by name.
Fears that the names could be made public led a group of unnamed FBI agents involved in the Capitol riot investigations to initiate lawsuits against the Justice Department to prevent the disclosure of this information.
Last week, the Justice Department and lawyers representing the agents came to an agreement where the government will not publicly release the list of names without giving two days’ notice to the agents. Legal proceedings regarding the case are still ongoing.
During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, Patel promised that “all FBI employees will be safeguarded against political retribution.”
“Every FBI employee will be held to the same standard and no one will be dismissed for their case assignments,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has pledged to dismiss “some” FBI employees involved in the Jan. 6 investigations, alleging without evidence that they are “corrupt.”
On the eve of the Senate’s consideration of his nomination, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the leading Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, urged the Justice Department’s internal watchdog to investigate whether Patel was influencing the termination of senior FBI officials as a private citizen.
“It is unacceptable for a nominee with no current government position, especially at the FBI, to directly oversee unjustifiable and potentially unlawful adverse employment actions against senior career FBI leadership and other committed, nonpartisan law enforcement officials,” Durbin stated in a letter to Michael Horowitz, the Justice Department inspector general.
He additionally claimed that Patel may have committed perjury during his confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee. During an interaction with Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, Patel stated he was unaware of any plans or discussions to penalize FBI agents or personnel involved in investigations related to Mr. Trump before he sought a second term.
Patel, who was born on Long Island, New York, started his career as a public defender in South Florida and was a trial attorney in the Justice Department’s National Security Division. He also acted as a legal liaison to the Joint Special Operations Command.
In 2017, Patel was the special counsel on counterterrorism for the House Intelligence Committee, before becoming a senior aide to its then-chairman, former Rep. Devin Nunes, and serving as senior counsel at the House Reform and Oversight Committee.
During Trump’s first term, Patel worked for the National Security Council, served as principal deputy at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and was chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller.
In April 2022, Patel joined the board of directors for the Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns the Truth Social social media platform, and was a national security adviser to the president during the campaign.
