The U.S. Senate has advanced the nomination of President Donald Trump’s pick for FBI director, Kash Patel.
On Tuesday, the Senate voted along party lines to advance the nomination of Patel.
The vote cleared a procedural hurdle to set up a final vote on the controversial Trump ally to lead the federal law enforcement agency.
Senators voted 48-45 to advance Patel’s nomination.
Patel cleared the vote despite claims from the Democrats that he would operate as a loyalist for the president and target the administration’s political enemies.
He will now move forward to a final confirmation vote later in the week.
Some of Trump’s other more controversial picks have received enough support from Republican lawmakers seeking to fall in line to push the president’s agenda.
They include new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
A former intelligence and Defense Department official in Trump’s first term, Patel supports reshaping the FBI.
Patel backs Trump’s plans to expand the FBI’s role in targeting illegal immigration.
He has been a vocal critic of the FBI’s past politically motivated investigations into the president.
Patel has been criticized for his lack of management experience compared to past FBI directors.
Democrats also complained about Patel’s past statements, including calling investigators who probed Trump “government gangsters” and describing Jan. 6 defendants as “political prisoners.”
Nevertheless, Patel has still received support from many Republicans, including moderates.
“I’ve spoken to multiple people I respect about Kash Patel this weekend—both for and against,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said Tuesday on X.
“The ones who worked closely with Kash vouched for him. I will vote for his confirmation.”
During his confirmation hearing last month, Patel said that Democrats were taking some of his comments out of context or misunderstanding his point.
Democrats even brought up his joke about shutting down the FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. and turning it into a museum for the “deep state.”
Patel also denied the accusation that his book’s inclusion of a list of government officials who he claimed were part of the “deep state” constituted an “enemies list,” pushing back on that allegation as a “total mischaracterization.”
The Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 along party lines to advance his nomination to the full Senate.
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