Senate Democrats are taking a stand against President Donald Trump’s controversial pick to run the FBI and implement his plans for overhauling the bureau.
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats moved Thursday to delay a procedural hurdle on the confirmation of Kash Patel as FBI director, exploiting committee rules to push off the vote on Patel’s nomination for a week.
Judiciary Committee Democrats held a press conference Thursday announcing their effort to block Patel.
“This appointment of the head of the FBI is one of the most serious that the Senate Judiciary Committee should consider. We decided 50 years ago to de-politicize the FBI by giving ten year tenures to those who headed up the FBI to transcend any single President,” Durbin said.
Durbin criticized Patel’s book, Government Gangsters, for containing “grievances” and conspiracy theories that reflect his political views. He also accused Patel of evading questions about his involvement in promoting an album produced by a choir of January 6 defendants to raise money for their families.
His comments were echoed by other Democrats who consider Patel to be an unqualified extremist who will prioritize his allegiance to Trump over the Constitution.
“FBI. Fidelity. Bravery. Integrity. The men and women of the FBI deserve better than this nominee,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), who pressed Patel on his prior comments during his confirmation hearing.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, acknowledged the right of Democrats under the committee’s rules to delay Patel’s nomination. Under the committee rules, any member can delay a confirmation vote for a week, meaning the panel will vote on Patel’s nomination next Thursday.
Before the delay, Grassley denied Democrats’ attempt to hold a second hearing with Patel to question him about whether he was involved in the Trump administration’s moves to fire senior FBI officials. The Trump administration is also intent on firing FBI agents who investigated Capitol riot cases and acted in an overly partisan manner.
Patel spent a significant portion of the confirmation hearing emphasizing his belief that the FBI needs to return to a focus on law enforcement to combat the growing public distrust in the bureau. The FBI’s reputation was damaged by its Crossfire Hurricane investigation into false claims that Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia and the FBI’s key role in pressuring social media platforms to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Additionally, FBI field offices circulated a memo equating traditional Catholics with domestic terrorists and acted on a directive from Attorney General Merrick Garland to target parents at school board meetings who voiced discontent with certain policies.
Republicans became further disillusioned with the FBI for its raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound, conducted as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents case.
Patel, who played a pivotal role in pushing back against Russian collusion claims as a congressional staffer, vowed that he would not send the agency after political opponents. Instead, Patel set ambitious goals for tackling rape, homicide, and violent crime, while promising to open internal investigations into politicized cases and comply with congressional oversight.
Senate Republicans have pushed to confirm President Trump’s cabinet choices as quickly as possible to help his administration get off to a quick start. The Senate confirmed Monday Trump’s Attorney General selection Pam Bondi, who will be Patel’s boss if he becomes the next FBI director.