Kashyap “Kash” Patel was confirmed to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in a 51-49 Senate vote Thursday, despite Democrats’ desperate attempts to block his nomination.
Patel, a former federal prosecutor and prior Trump administration intelligence official, won the vote without help from Republican Sens. Susan Collins (ME) and Lisa Murkowski (AK), who joined the Democrats against him.
The Senate went 51-47 to advance his nomination earlier Thursday, with Sens. John Boozman (R-AR) and John Fetterman (D-PA) missing the vote.
President Donald Trump selected Patel to run the FBI shortly after winning the November election, calling him a “brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People.”
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