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WASHINGTON D.C. (WSAU) – President Donald Trump’s nominee to become the 9th director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kash Patel, has been officially confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a narrow 51-49 vote which included two Republicans opposing him.
According to Fox News, Patel received broad Republican support during Thursday’s vote including Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnel who voted in favor of Patel after initially being one of three Republican holdouts earlier this week.
Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, joined Democrats and voted “no” to Patel’s nomination. Collins addressed her no vote in a press release on Thursday morning saying, “The nomination of Kash Patel to serve as Director of the FBI comes to the Senate against the backdrop of recent personnel actions at the Department of Justice, including the resignations of several career federal prosecutors who felt they were being instructed to act in a manner inconsistent with their ethical obligations.”
Patel served in several national security positions under Trump’s first administration, including chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, senior counselor to the acting director of national intelligence, and National Security Council officer.
With news outlets learning in recent weeks that thousands of FBI agents had worked to investigate and prosecute protestors, many of whom had not been accused or charged with a violent crime, who were present at the U.S. Capitol when the January 6th riot occurred, Patel assured senators during his confirmation hearing that, as FBI Director, he would work with the president and other officials to end the politicization of the bureau and provide answers to voters and lawmakers regarding the bureau’s role in the riot.
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