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After a prolonged confirmation process, Kash Patel has been confirmed by the Senate as the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, solidifying a powerful cabinet of America First leaders in the Trump administration.
The final Senate vote tally was 51-49.
Patel’s nomination comes just one week after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as the new secretary of Health and Human Services.
Last week, Patel survived a Senate Judiciary Committee vote along party lines (12-10), which advanced him into a procedural vote, followed by Thursday’s final floor vote.
“Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,” President Donald Trump stated in his nomination of Patel as the bureau’s director last year.
Arizona Republican Congressman Abe Hamadeh’s office congratulated Patel upon his confirmation on Thursday, writing on X, “There is no one better to reform that Agency, protect the American people, and uphold the Constitution of the United States.”
Perhaps surprisingly, outgoing Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) voted “yes” on confirming Patel after voting against Kennedy’s confirmation last week.
Patel – a former prosecutor – served in the first term of the Trump administration as the chief of staff to the then-acting secretary of defense. He is also the author of the book, Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy.