Senate Democrats delay key vote on confirmation for Trump FBI pick Kash Patel

Senate Democrats pushed back a key vote to advance the nomination of Kash Patel Thursday, forcing consideration of President Trump’s pick to lead the FBI to be postponed until next week.Shortly after convening Thursday morning, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee moved to place a hold on Patel, 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.”“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 Jan.

6, 2021, Capitol rioters.Durbin also claimed that Patel “was part of this lionization of these thugs who took over the Capitol.”During Patel’s confirmation hearing last week, the FBI director-designate vowed to restore public trust in law enforcement by cutting in half US drug deaths, homicides and rapes, saying 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.”Democrats in the hearing argued the 44-year-old Trump appointee was far too radical to lead the bureau — pointing to Patel’s past statements and writings on the need to overhaul US intelligence agencies by firing their “top ranks” and prosecuting “to the fullest extent of the law” anyone who “in any way abused their authority for political ends.”Patel, a Long Island native, also wrote in his 2023 book “Government Gangsters” about an enemies list to be pursued in a second Trump administration...