Democrats succeeded Thursday in delaying a committee vote to advance the confirmation of FBI director nominee Kash Patel until next week at least.
The vote, which was slated to happen at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday, was pushed to next week after Senate Democrats demanded a second hearing from the Trump-aligned former Defense Department official, citing concerns about his previous remarks and candor.
In a statement Tuesday night, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa., said attempts by top Judiciary Democrat Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and others to force Patel to testify again were ‘baseless’ as he already sat before the committee for more than five hours and disclosed ‘thousands of pages’ of records to the panel, as well as nearly 150 pages of responses to lawmakers’ written questions.
At a press briefing Thursday morning, Democrats criticized Patel for both his previous actions and his remarks made on podcasts, social media and in his book, saying that in their view, Patel failed to assuage any of their concerns last week during his nearly six-hour confirmation hearing, including questions of whether he would take moves to ensure the bureau can continue to act without political interference.
Patel, they argued, failed to directly answer their questions on this topic.
They also said Patel failed to account for his previous statements to the extent required to head up the nation’s sprawling law enforcement agency.
‘This appointment, the head of the FBI, is one of the most serious that the Senate Judiciary Committee should consider,’ Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the committee, told reporters.
‘Kash Patel has no business being the director of the FBI,’ Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Thursday, noting that he asked Patel three ‘simple, direct’ questions last week about how he would lead the bureau in an independent manner if confirmed.
‘I asked him if he understood who the FBI works for, and he answered, essentially through the Department of Justice, the White House,’ Coons said. ‘I gave him another chance to answer not who they report to, but who they work for. And he said again, the White House.’
‘I asked if he would refuse a direct order from the President to do something inappropriate, immoral or illegal,’ Coons said, ‘and he would not answer.’
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., for her part, cited her own background as a prosecutor, a job she noted involves close work with federal law enforcement. ‘That nonpartisan, independent nature’ of the Justice Department and FBI ‘is really key to all the work and the belief in our justice system,’ she said.
‘To have an FBI nominee – think about this – who is repeatedly calling the people that he is supposed to be managing corrupt is beyond belief,’ she said. ‘And I am shocked that our Republican colleagues have not signified any concern about this nominee.’
Still, Democrats face limited options to further delay Patel’s confirmation in the near-term.
Durbin told Fox News Thursday that their aim in delaying the hearing is to raise more public awareness about Patel’s previous actions, in hopes that doing so will shore up new opposition from some Republicans in the chamber.
Ultimately, lawmakers noted they can only delay Patel’s committee vote through next week. Beyond that, they said, it is up to Republicans.
‘The president has chosen a nominee – a disappointing choice – in Kash Patel,’ Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., told reporters. ‘Now it’s up to the Senate to either confirm this nominee or not,’ he said, adding that it’s ‘clear where Senate Democrats stand.’
‘I think my biggest question is where are Senate Republicans going to stand at this important moment in history.’ Padilla continued. ‘Will they choose the rule of law? Will they choose the Constitution?’ he said, ‘Or will they choose loyalty to a reckless president?’
‘We’ll soon find out.’