Updated February 20, 2025 at 16:17 PM ET
The Republican-led Senate voted Thursday to confirm Kash Patel as the new FBI director despite questions about whether he has the qualifications and the temperament to lead the nation's most powerful law enforcement agency.
Patel, a close ally of President Trump and a fierce critic of the FBI, was confirmed by a 51-49 vote, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joining all Democrats in opposing him.
It caps a remarkable rise for Patel, who has worked as a public defender, federal prosecutor and congressional aide before serving as a national security official in President Trump's first term. He later emerged as a fixture in MAGA world, a right-wing podcast regular and a Trump loyalist.
Republicans welcomed his confirmation. They argue that the FBI has unfairly targeted conservatives in recent years, and they see Patel as someone who will fix that purported problem.
"Kash is the right man to clean up the FBI to restore Americans' confidence and trust that the FBI is not a political organization, it is a law enforcement organization," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a post on X.
Republicans pushed Patel's nomination over the line in the face of fierce opposition from Democrats, who voiced concerns about Patel's fitness for the job and his ability—or even desire—to maintain the FBI's traditional independence the White House.
Concerns about Patel's ability to lead the FBI were reflected in the narrow margin of his confirmation vote. His three immediate predecessors—Christopher Wray, James Comey and Robert Mueller—all received at least 92 votes.
Democrats warn of "red flags"
On Thursday morning, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee gathered in front of FBI headquarters to speak out against Patel.
"Mr. Patel will be a political and national security disaster, if confirmed," said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the panel's top Democrat.
"I'm convinced he has neither the experience, the judgment nor the temperament to lead the FBI," Durbin added. "My Senate Republican colleagues are willfully ignoring myriad red flags about Mr. Patel, especially his recurring instinct to threaten retribution against his perceived enemies. This is an extremely dangerous flaw for someone who seeks to lead the nation's most powerful domestic investigative agency for the next 10 years."
Neither of Patel's immediate predecessors served out the job's full 10-year term. Trump fired then-director James Comey in 2017, and handpicked Christopher Wray to replace him.
After Trump's election win last November, he tapped Patel to lead the FBI, effectively pushing Wray out of the job.
Unlike those two men, Patel has no experience as a senior law enforcement official. That has fueled questions about his qualifications to lead the FBI.
But the pushback to his nomination has centered more around his loyalty to Trump and his past statements about rooting out what he calls the "deep state" and going after his and Trump's perceived political enemies, including at the FBI.
In one podcast appearance, Patel vowed to shut down FBI headquarters on Day 1 and reopen it as a "museum of the deep state."
At his confirmation hearing, Patel sought to deflect questions about his past comments, telling lawmakers "any accusations leveled against me that I would somehow put political bias before the Constitution are grotesquely unfair."
Patel takes over at the FBI at a tumultuous time for the bureau. In the past few weeks, the new leadership at the Justice Department has pushed out at least eight senior FBI officials and obtained a list of all FBI personnel involved in investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol—a probe the Trump administration has criticized.
That has touched off fears at the bureau of possible mass firings for retaliatory reasons. The FBI Agents Association, which represents the majority of agents at the bureau, sued to prevent making public the names of FBI employees provided to the department.
On Thursday, the association's president, Natalie Bara, congratulated Patel on his confirmation.
"We look forward to partnering with him as he leads the Bureau forward in our shared mission to keep America safe," Bara said in a statement.
"As the new leadership team considers and implements reform measures, the FBIAA stands ready to serve as a valuable resource, ensuring that Special Agents can continue safeguarding the American people from emerging threats while upholding the Constitution."
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