(CNN) — The Senate voted on Thursday to confirm Kash Patel as FBI director, installing a staunch loyalist of President Donald Trump and conservative firebrand at the head of the nation’s top law enforcement agency.
The nomination faced intense scrutiny from Democrats on Capitol Hill who have warned that Patel is poised to use the position to seek retribution against Trump’s perceived political enemies.
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Patel said there will be “no politicization” at the FBI and “no retributive actions” and accused Democrats of cherry-picking excerpts of old comments. “Snippets of information are often misleading,” Patel said at one point.
The role of FBI director is supposed to be a 10-year term to insulate the position from politics. But after winning back the White House, Trump made clear that he wanted then-FBI chief Chris Wray out, leading Wray to resign and paving the way for Patel to be confirmed.
Republicans have defended Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, arguing that Patel will bring needed transparency to the FBI and dismissing controversial past statements as hyperbole.
Senate Republicans have now approved a slate of nominees who initially faced questions over whether they would be able to win confirmation, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services, Pete Hegseth as defense secretary and Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.
As a Republican congressional aide and Trump national security staffer, Patel fought to declassify and release documents to try to undercut the FBI’s investigation into connections between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.
During his confirmation hearing, Democrats focused in on Patel’s record – in TV interviews, podcast appearances, his books and social media posts – of calling for punishments against the people he believes are part of the “deep state” that has attempted to undermine Trump.
They raised concerns about what they called an “enemies list,” from Patel’s 2023 book, “Government Gangsters.” CNN has reported that some of the 60 officials on that list are taking drastic steps to protect their families, fearing that Patel will weaponize his FBI powers.
“I have no interest, no desire, and will not, if confirmed, go backwards,” Patel said. “There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken … should I be confirmed as the FBI director.”
He later said, “It’s not an enemies list – that is a total mischaracterization.”
CNN’s Morgan Rimmer, Ted Barrett, Marshall Cohen and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.
The-CNN-Wire
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