The United States Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Kash Patel as the number of President Donald Trump’s confirmed cabinet nominees increases to nearly 20. 

In a 51-49 vote, the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Kash Patel as FBI director. The vote fell largely along party lines, with all 47 Democrats opposing Patel’s confirmation and all but two Republicans supporting him. The two Senate Republicans who broke with their party to oppose Patel were Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. 

Trump first announced Patel as his pick to lead the FBI shortly after winning the 2024 presidential election last fall, praising him as “a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People.”  Trump expressed confidence that Patel would “end the growing crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across our Border.”

Trump also vowed that Patel would bring back “Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity” to the law enforcement agency. During his confirmation hearing last month, Patel declared, “There should be no politics in the FBI.” Characterizing himself as a “victim of the weaponization of law enforcement against me,” Patel said, “I know what that feels like,” adding: “I will make sure no American feels that sleight of hand ever again.” 

Throughout the Biden administration, the FBI faced criticism after one of its field offices circulated a memo warning about a threat posed by “radical-traditionalist Catholic ideology” and a memo directing the law enforcement agency to “facilitate the discussion of strategies” for addressing parents concerned about school curriculum after the National School Boards Association likened them to domestic terrorists. 

During an exchange with Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Patel said that he would “investigate and prioritize the safety of our children, any real domestic terrorists” rather than directing the agency’s resources against “parents who voice legitimate concerns at school board meetings.” Patel also assured Schmitt that he would rather “focus on” combatting the “one hundred thousand deaths due to fentanyl and drug overdoses in one year” instead of targeting “traditional Catholics as extremists.”

Sen. Eric Schmitt plays a game of "Would You Rather?" with Kash Patel during his confirmation hearing. @Eric_Schmitt: "Would you rather target traditional Catholics as extremists, or focus on investigating actual threats posed to American people by cartels?" pic.twitter.com/SYybMzlw1p

— Melissa Barnhart (@MelBarnhart) January 31, 2025

Patel is among a handful of Trump’s cabinet nominees who at least one Senate Republican voted against. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voted against both Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., while McConnell joined Collins and Murkowski in opposing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. 

One month into his presidency, the Senate has confirmed 19 of Trump’s cabinet nominees, including Patel, Gabbard, Kennedy and Hegseth. While the aforementioned cabinet picks have had the narrowest support among the Senate, Secretary of State Marco Rubio found himself in the opposite position as the only appointed member of the Trump administration to receive a unanimous confirmation by the Senate. 

Other confirmed cabinet officials include: Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of Energy Christopher Wright, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Eric Turner.

Over the past week, four additional cabinet picks have secured spots in the Trump administration following confirmation votes by the Senate: Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler. 

Meanwhile, several of Trump’s cabinet picks still await confirmation. The nominations of Elise Stefanik to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Huckabee for the position of U.S. ambassador to Israel, and Mark Burnett for the position of special envoy to the United Kingdom have yet to be approved by the Senate. 

Additional cabinet nominees awaiting confirmation include: Dave Weldon, whom Trump tapped to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See nominee Brian Burch, National Institutes of Health Director nominee Jay Bhattacharya and Secretary of Labor nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer. 

News Source : https://www.christianpost.com/news/senate-confirms-kash-patel-as-fbi-director.html