Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) questioned FBI Director Kash Patel during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday about whether certain physical fitness standards required by his agency reflect gender bias towards women.
Hirono specifically took Patel to task over pull-up requirements for applicants in the FBI’s Basic Field Training Course (BFTC) and whether those tests are overly harsh and leave women at a disadvantage.
In her questioning of Patel, Hirono asked, “One question I had is that you are now requiring applicants to be able to do a certain kind of pull-ups, which a lot of women cannot because of physiological differences. Are you requiring these kinds of pull-ups?”
Patel responded, “We are requiring everybody to pass the 1811 standards at BFTC. If you want to chase down a bad guy, excuse me, and put him in handcuffs, you had better be able to do a pull-up.”
The exchange prompted a pointed response from Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) about Sen. Hirono inadvertently making the case for keeping men out of women’s sports.
Britt later commented in a post on X, “I never thought I’d see the day. [Hirono] made a great argument on the importance of preserving Title IX protections for female athletes. As she rightly pointed out, there are clear biological differences between men and women.”
The FBI recruitment website states: “Starting in November 2025, pull-ups will be a required event for all candidates.”
In addition to the agency’s traditional Physical Fitness Test (PFT), male recruits are required to do a minimum 2-3 pull-ups while female applicants face a required minimum of 1 pull-up.
Hirono told Patel in yesterday’s hearing, “There are concerns about whether or not being able to do these kinds of harsh pull-ups is really required of FBI agents.”
Patel responded, “Doing one pull-up is not harsh, and there are always medical exemptions to that.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Patel said, “Americans expect their FBI agents to be capable, resilient and ready to protect them…We’re rebuilding a bureau that earns the public’s confidence by being present, prepared and physically ready to do the job.”