Senate confirms Kash Patel as FBI director

Kash Patel has been confirmed as the nation’s next FBI director.

The Senate voted 51-49, with GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voting against Patel's confirmation. 

His confirmation places him at the top of America’s premier federal law enforcement agency despite concerns from Democrats over his qualifications and the prospect that he will do President Donald Trump's bidding.

Who is Kash Patel? 

The backstory:

Patel is a fierce Trump loyalist who has repeatedly criticized the agency he is tasked with leading. 

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A former federal defender and Justice Department counterterrorism prosecutor, Patel attracted Trump’s attention during his first term when, as a staffer on the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee, he helped author a memo with pointed criticism of the FBI’s investigation into ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Kash Patel, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on January 30, 2025 i

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Patel later joined Trump’s administration, both as a counterterrorism official at the National Security Council and as chief of staff to the defense secretary.

His eyebrow-raising remarks on hundreds of podcasts over the last four years include referring to law enforcement officials who investigated Trump as "criminal gangsters," referring to some Jan. 6 rioters as "political prisoners" and pledging to "come after" anti-Trump "conspirators" in the government and media.

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At his confirmation hearing last month, Patel said Democrats were taking some of his comments out of context or misunderstanding the broader point that he was trying to make, such as when he proposed shutting down the FBI headquarters in Washington and turning it into a museum for the so-called deep state. And Patel denied the idea that a list in his book of government officials who he said were part of a "deep state" amounted to an "enemies list," calling that a "total mischaracterization."

What is Patel’s role in the FBI? 

Big picture view:

Patel will inherit an FBI gripped by turmoil. The Justice Department in the last month has forced out a group of senior FBI officials and made a highly unusual demand for the names of thousands of agents who participated in investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

What they're saying:

Trump has said that he expects some of those agents will be fired.

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Republicans angry over what they see as law enforcement bias against conservatives during the Biden administration, as well as criminal investigations into Trump, have rallied behind Patel as the right person for the job. 

The other side:

Democrats, meanwhile, have complained about his lack of management experience compared to others who have held the director's job and highlighted incendiary past statements that they say call his judgment into question.

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"My prediction is if you vote for Kash Patel, more than any other confirmation vote you make, you will come to regret this one to your grave," Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said this week.

How long is Kash Patel’s term? 

What's next:

FBI directors are given 10-year terms as a way to insulate them from political influence and keep them from becoming beholden to a particular president or administration. 

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Patel was selected in November to replace Christopher Wray, who was picked by Trump in 2017 and served for more than seven years but who repeatedly angered the president and was seen by him as insufficiently loyal. He resigned before Trump took office.