The minority invoked a rule of the Senate Judiciary Committee to delay a vote on Patel’s nomination by one week, citing concerns with his record.
WASHINGTON—The Democratic Caucus of the U.S. Senate on Feb. 6 delayed the Senate Judiciary Committee from voting to advance to the Senate floor President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel to be the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Patel, a former prosecutor who served as the chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense during the first Trump administration, first gained prominence as a conservative commentator on national security issues. During his first day in office on Jan. 20, Trump nominated Patel to replace former FBI Director Christopher Wray, who resigned on Jan. 19 at Trump’s behest. Wray was previously appointed by Trump in 2017 for a 10-year term.
Patel’s past commentary has attracted criticism from Democrats, who said that he may use the FBI for retribution against Trump’s political rivals.
In response, Patel has repeatedly said he has no intention of doing that.
“There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken by any FBI should I be confirmed as the FBI director,” he said at the first formal hearing on his nomination on Jan. 30.
On Feb. 4, all 10 Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee published a letter to the chairman, Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), requesting a delay in consideration of Patel’s nomination. The committee had been scheduled to vote on Feb. 6 to advance the nomination to the Senate floor for a final vote of consent, after which Patel could be sworn into office.
“Mr. Patel was wholly unwilling to answer questions posed by members of the Committee relating to his grand jury testimony and the circumstances that led him to assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination [during the proceedings],” the signatories added. On Jan. 30, Patel sat for his nomination hearing by the committee and fielded questions from senators for over five hours.
Rule 1, clause 3 of the Judiciary Committee permits a member of the committee to request a one-time delay on a nomination vote by one week. The action was criticized by Senate Republicans as bad faith by the Democrats. “Republicans waived that rule 17 times in the last Congress [and the Democrats] should do so here,” wrote Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a member of the committee, on X.
Grassley said at the committee’s hearing on Feb. 6, where Patel’s nomination would have received a vote, that “Committee Democrats are establishing a double standard.”
“Republicans extended this courtesy … even when very controversial nominees were on the agenda,” he added.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who is the committee’s ranking member, said in response: “This is an extraordinary nomination.” He also criticized Patel’s involvement in the promotion of musical performances by inmates incarcerated in relation to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, known as the “J6 Prison Choir.”
The Democratic signatories, led by Durbin, alleged in the letter that Patel included “apparent falsehoods in his testimony, under oath, during his confirmation hearing,” and that the nominee must offer clarifications.
The letter also demanded that Patel appear before the committee to address the recent dismissal of career officials by the Trump administration at the FBI, as well as Patel’s statements before a grand jury impaneled to indict Trump in 2023 on charges of mishandling classified documents, which were dismissed after his election.
The hold means that a vote on Patel’s nomination may be delayed until at least Feb. 13.
Grassley’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.