Former Justice Department attorney and outspoken MAGA champion Kash Patel was confirmed as America's next FBI director in a narrow 51-49 vote on Thursday, with a mandate to root out weaponization of the federal government against conservatives.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) -- The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate voted 51-49 Thursday to confirm Kash Patel as President Donald Trump’s Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), betting on a staunch MAGA loyalist to uproot “weaponization” of federal law enforcement against conservatives.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine were the only Republicans to vote against Patel. Retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a longtime GOP leader in the chamber who had a tumultuous relationship with Trump, surprised observers by voting yes.
A former Justice Department and House Republican attorney, Patel first gained notoriety in 2018 as the author of a memo in an investigation of former Republican U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes of California into Russian collusion allegations against Trump that found serious defects and misconduct in Democrats’ case against Trump and how they built it. Patel went on to join the first Trump administration as senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council, then senior adviser for Trump’s directors of national intelligence, then finally chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller.
Since the end of Trump’s first term, Patel established himself as one of Trump’s most aggressive advocates, arguing that he would be the best man to investigate and prosecute Biden officials as well as their allies in the media, and building a MAGA audience of his own through regular appearances on Steve Bannon’s podcast, his own branded merchandise, and a series of children’s books retelling Trump’s battles with Democrats as fairy tales.
Patel was seen as one of Trump’s nominees less certain to win Senate GOP support given his fiery post-2020 persona and associations. However, while former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida withdrew his attorney general nomination over internal party resistance, a majority of Senate Republicans ultimately fell in line behind Trump’s choices of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS) and Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence.
During his confirmation hearings, Patel promised, “I will fully utilize, if confirmed, the investigative powers of the FBI to give you the information you require and also to hold those accountable who violated the sacred trust placed in the FBI,” including by targeting religious Americans for their peaceful moral and political views under the Biden administration.
“Parents who have the courage to ensure that their children are taught what they feel is right and those who have the courage of their convictions to go to houses of worship, in my book, will never be treated as domestic terrorists,” he added.
As FBI director, Patel will be working closely with Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has similarly pledged to de-weaponize federal law enforcement.
