OAN Staff James Meyers
9:23 AM – Thursday, February 6, 2025
Senate Democrats delayed a key vote to advance the nomination of Kash Patel to lead the FBI, causing President Donald Trump’s pick to be confirmed until next week.
On Thursday Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee made the move to place a hold on the nominee, with Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) acknowledging that “the minority has exercised their right and my right under the committee rules to hold over the nomination of Kash Patel to lead the FBI.”
It is the prerogative of a member to request a move like this one time.
“This is an unusual nomination, and it’s a 10-year nomination,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the ranking member on the panel, noting that the lengthier term was adopted “to make sure that we took politics out of the equation.”
“Ten years is a long time and merits review,” added Durbin, claiming that Patel had made a “direct contradiction under oath” about his involvement in producing a song recording of jailed January 6, 2021, Capitol demonstrators.
Durbin doubled down, claiming that Patel “was part of this lionization of these thugs who took over the Capitol.”
During his confirmation hearing last week, Patel stated that he would restore Americans trust in law enforcement by cutting in half U.S. drug deaths, rapes and homicides, claiming he would “make sure we don’t have 100,000 rapes in this country next year, make sure we don’t have 100,000 drug overdoses from Chinese fentanyl and Mexican heroin, and make sure we don’t have 17,000 homicides.”
Meanwhile, a similar move was made on Attorney General Pam Bondi’s nomination in January.
Patel is now expected to be voted out of committee by Republicans next Thursday.
However, the new potential leader of the FBI is still in a strong position to get the go ahead from Republican senators when it’s all said and done.
The 44-year-old nominee also told senators last week that he would not use the bureau’s resources to investigate Democrats, but did point out FBI abuse of power during its Trump-Russia collusion probe after the 2016 election.
Additionally, Patel did not say the FBI should be “abolished” and insisted that “98% of the FBI is courageous, apolitical warriors of justice.”
“They just need better leadership,” he told members of the Judiciary panel.
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans will shift to Tulsi Gabbard, the president’s pick for national intelligence director – and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human services secretary, as part of the next nominees to be confirmed in the next few weeks.
The delay also follows an expedited effort by Republicans to help move Trump’s nominees through the chamber. So far the Senate has confirmed 12 nominees in less than three weeks.
The chamber is now expected to confirm Russel Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget by Thursday night.
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