Trump FBI pick Kash Patel confirmed amid Justice Department tumult

The Republican-controlled US Senate confirmed Kash Patel, US President Donald Trump’s pick for FBI director, on Thursday, putting a Trump loyalist at the top of the nation’s most prominent policing agency at a time of growing upheaval.

Patel was confirmed by a 51-49 vote. Two moderate Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, joined all Democrats in opposing Patel, but it was not enough to overcome broad Republican support.

Collins and Murkowski, in opposing Patel, expressed concern about his past political advocacy for Trump and its potential effect on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s policing activities.

Patel takes charge as Trump-backed officials seek to put their stamp on the FBI and its parent agency, the Justice Department, challenging decades-old traditions of independence and reorienting its mission toward Trump’s core priorities.

At least 75 career Justice Department lawyers and FBI officials, who normally keep their roles from administration to administration, have either resigned, been fired or stripped of their posts in the first month of the Trump administration.

Justice Department leadership has ordered broad policy changes, demanded loyalty to Trump’s agenda and sought to drop a corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who courted Trump, citing his cooperation on immigration enforcement.