Washington DC [US], February 20 : The US Senate has voted to advance Indian-origin Kash Patel's nomination as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
A procedural vote has confirmed Patel and it will be followed by the final vote shortly.
This came despite opposition from the Democrats, who warned that Patel, a staunch Republican, could use the agency to target the president's perceived political enemies, as reported by CBS News.
FBI directors serve 10-year terms but can be removed by the president. Chris Wray, appointed in 2017, resigned at the end of former US President Joe Biden's term after President Donald Trump pledged to fire him, CBS News reported.
On Tuesday, Patel cleared a key procedural vote in the Senate with strong Republican backing, as reported by The New York Post.
The Senate voted 48-45 along party lines to advance the nomination, triggering a 30-hour debate before Patel would have received final approval on Thursday, The New York Post reported.
During the Senate confirmation hearings on January 30, while referring to the January 6 Capitol Riots, reiterated his firm stance against violence, emphasizing that such actions must never be tolerated.
He stated that anyone who engages in violence against law enforcement should be investigated, prosecuted, and imprisoned.
During the Senate confirmation hearings, Patel said, "For January 6, I have repeatedly, publicly and privately said that there can never be a tolerance for violence against law enforcement. And anyone that commits an act of violence against law enforcement should be investigated, prosecuted and imprisoned."
Patel also reaffirmed his commitment to exposing corruption in government, calling public service a privilege and vowing to continue holding officials accountable.
He led President Trump's counterterrorism mission as Deputy Assistant to the President on the National Security Council (NSC) and helped President Trump's on his top priorities including eliminating Al-Qa'ida and ISIS senior leadership, and safely repatriating dozens of American hostages. As the top counterterrorism official at the White House, Kash was responsible for creating and implementing our nation's policy to safeguard the homeland by overseeing the interagency implementation of the national CT strategy.