Patel gains support of key senator for FBI nomination

Kash Patel is easily one of the most controversial Trump nominees.

For those with no background on Patel, his resume more than qualifies him for the position of FBI Director.

However, he has said and done some things that have brought his nomination into question, even giving some Republicans pause for concern, but he appears to have gained some key support.

Making Him a Believer

I have never hidden my personal concerns about Patel. While I would have easily supported him as the Deputy Director of the FBI, I,too, had doubts about his being given the keys to the entire agency.

Patel has made some well-documented statements in the past that would bring his leadership into question in this role.

Was it all talk? Was he merely promoting himself by making these outrageous comments, or did he really believe what he was saying? They are the types of questions senators had to decide during his nomination hearings.

Patel was struggling to get enough support among Republicans to push through his nomination, but on Thursday, he managed to get through committee along party lines.

Then, on Tuesday, Patel gained enough support to move his nomination to cloture in the Senate, opening up the floor to debate and, at some point, a vote.

Patel passed to the next phase with a 48-45 vote, so there is still some work to be done here.

Trump continues to stick by Patel, having stated, “Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People."

As I stated above, I had my concerns, and if I am being honest, Patel did little to alleviate those concerns during his confirmation hearings.

Some of the questions I needed to have answered the most were nothing more than defensive rants of outrage during the hearings.

To that point, several senators have expressed continued concern, but one of those holdouts, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), has stated that he will back Patel for the position, posting to X, “I’ve spoken to multiple people I respect about Kash Patel this weekend—both for and against. The ones who worked closely with Kash vouched for him. I will vote for his confirmation."

By my count, this likely makes it a 50-50 vote for Patel, which will be just fine for Trump because JD Vance, as vice president and president of the Senate, casts the tiebreaker vote, which would confirm Patel if needed.

I am very curious to see what will happen to the FBI if Patel is confirmed, as I would suspect we will see mass resignations in the agency by liberal activists, especially among leadership.

But it is the direction that Patel will take the FBI that interests me the most.