The Senate overcame a procedural hurdle on Patel's nomination Tuesday with a party-line 48-45 vote, setting up a final vote on his nomination likely Thursday.
Mr. Patel was tapped to lead the FBI after Mr. Trump ran hard against the “weaponized” agency in 2024, saying that he would remake the agency after it spent years investigating him personally.
The Senate voted 48-45 along party lines to open debate on the nominee, starting the countdown for 30 hours of discussion before Patel is expected to receive final approval Thursday, sources close to the confirmation process tell The Post. GOP senators have praised Long Island native Patel, 44, for his experience as a prosecutor and former national security aide in the first Trump administration — as well as his firm commitment to rooting out political “weaponization” at the FBI and getting back to the basics of the bureau’s law enforcement duties.
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed Kash Patel as the next director of the FBI, installing a hard-line critic of the bureau whose unwavering loyalty to President Donald Trump has raised questions over the independence of the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency.
