America Senate on Thursday voted to verify Kash Patel because the variety of President Donald Trump’s confirmed cupboard nominees will increase to almost 20.
In a 51-49 vote, the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Kash Patel as FBI director. The vote fell largely alongside social gathering strains, with all 47 Democrats opposing Patel’s affirmation and all however two Republicans supporting him. The 2 Senate Republicans who broke with their social gathering to oppose Patel have been Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
Trump first introduced Patel as his choose to steer the FBI shortly after successful the 2024 presidential election final fall, praising him as “a superb lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who spent his profession exposing corruption, defending Justice, and defending the American Folks.” Trump expressed confidence that Patel would “finish the rising crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant prison gangs, and cease the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking throughout our Border.”
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Trump additionally vowed that Patel would deliver again “Constancy, Bravery, and Integrity” to the regulation enforcement company. Throughout his affirmation listening to final month, Patel declared, “There ought to be no politics within the FBI.” Characterizing himself as a “sufferer of the weaponization of regulation enforcement in opposition to me,” Patel stated, “I do know what that looks like,” including: “I’ll be sure that no American feels that sleight of hand ever once more.”
All through the Biden administration, the FBI confronted criticism after one in every of its subject workplaces circulated a memo warning a couple of menace posed by “radical-traditionalist Catholic ideology” and a memo directing the regulation enforcement company to “facilitate the dialogue of methods” for addressing dad and mom involved about college curriculum after the Nationwide College Boards Affiliation likened them to home terrorists.
Throughout an change with Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Patel stated that he would “examine and prioritize the security of our kids, any actual home terrorists” reasonably than directing the company’s sources in opposition to “dad and mom who voice authentic issues in school board conferences.” Patel additionally assured Schmitt that he would reasonably “deal with” combatting the “100 thousand deaths on account of fentanyl and drug overdoses in a single 12 months” as a substitute of focusing on “conventional Catholics as extremists.”
Sen. Eric Schmitt performs a sport of “Would You Quite?” with Kash Patel throughout his affirmation listening to. @Eric_Schmitt: “Would you reasonably goal conventional Catholics as extremists, or deal with investigating precise threats posed to American individuals by cartels?” pic.twitter.com/SYybMzlw1p
— Melissa Barnhart (@MelBarnhart) January 31, 2025
Patel is amongst a handful of Trump’s cupboard nominees who not less than one Senate Republican voted in opposition to. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voted in opposition to each Director of Nationwide Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Secretary of Well being and Human Companies Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whereas McConnell joined Collins and Murkowski in opposing Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth.
One month into his presidency, the Senate has confirmed 19 of Trump’s cupboard nominees, together with Patel, Gabbard, Kennedy and Hegseth. Whereas the aforementioned cupboard picks have had the narrowest help among the many Senate, Secretary of State Marco Rubio discovered himself within the reverse place as the one appointed member of the Trump administration to obtain a unanimous affirmation by the Senate.
Different confirmed cupboard officers embody: Central Intelligence Company Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, Environmental Safety Company Administrator Lee Zeldin, Secretary of the Inside Doug Burgum, Secretary of Power Christopher Wright, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, Lawyer Common Pam Bondi and Secretary of Housing and City Improvement Eric Turner.
Over the previous week, 4 further cupboard picks have secured spots within the Trump administration following affirmation votes by the Senate: Director of the Workplace of Administration and Finances Russell Vought, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Small Enterprise Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler.
In the meantime, a number of of Trump’s cupboard picks nonetheless await affirmation. The nominations of Elise Stefanik to function U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Huckabee for the place of U.S. ambassador to Israel, and Mark Burnett for the place of particular envoy to the UK have but to be accredited by the Senate.
Further cupboard nominees awaiting affirmation embody: Dave Weldon, whom Trump tapped to steer the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention; U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See nominee Brian Burch, Nationwide Institutes of Well being Director nominee Jay Bhattacharya and Secretary of Labor nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Submit. He could be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
