OAN Staff Sophia Flores
11:54 AM – Thursday, February 20, 2025
The Senate has officially voted to confirm Kash Patel as the new director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
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On Thursday, in a 51-49 vote, Patel was confirmed to be the ninth director of the FBI. He will serve a 10-year term.
In order to have been passed, no more than three Republicans could have voted “no” or “nay” on his confirmation.
One of the two Republicans that voted “nay” in relation to Patel serving as the FBI director, was Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). Additionally, she also voted no on Donald Trump’s now-confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The Congresswoman posted on X in regard to the final Patel vote, explaining why she was opposing his confirmation.
“I will oppose Kash Patel’s confirmation to serve as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI’s mission is “to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States.” Mr. Patel and I agree the bureau has crept past that mission, become an increasingly political agency, and eroded the public’s trust. We have had multiple frank and open discussions about how best to restore that trust. I agree with Mr. Patel that it begins by getting agents out in the field, doing what they signed up to do, rather than sitting behind an administrative desk. My reservations with Mr. Patel stem from his own prior political activities and how they may influence his leadership. The FBI must be trusted as the federal agency that roots out crime and corruption, not focused on settling political scores. I have been disappointed that when he had the opportunity to push back on the administration’s decision to force the FBI to provide a list of agents involved in the January 6 investigations and prosecutions, he failed to do so…” Murkowski stated.
Nevertheless, Murkowski concluded her thoughts by expressing that if confirmed, she hopes that Patel proves her wrong about certain reservations she has.
The only other Republican that voted “nay” in confirming Patel was Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine). Prior to the vote, she made it clear in a statement that she was not backing the president’s FBI nominee.
“The nomination of Kash Patel to serve as Director of the FBI comes to the Senate against the backdrop of recent personnel actions at the Department of Justice, including the resignations of several career federal prosecutors who felt they were being instructed to act in a manner inconsistent with their ethical obligations,” she wrote in a statement.
“While I strongly support efforts to ensure all federal employees perform their responsibilities ethically and in accordance with the law, Mr. Patel’s recent political profile undermines his ability to serve in the apolitical role of Director of the FBI,” Collins added.
Additionally, as a surprise to many, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who announced earlier today that he is not running for re-election 2026, ended up voting “yes” (“yea”) to confirm Patel. He has voted against three of Trump’s Cabinet nominees.
All of the Congressional voting sessions to move Patel closer to the final confirmation have been close. The vote to advance Patel’s nomination to the final Senate vote was 51-47 along party lines.
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