President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he intends to nominate Kash Patel to head the FBI, in an unusual move to replace current director Christopher Wray before his 10-year term ends. suggested.
As a reminder, Mr. Trump also nominated Mr. Wray.
Patel harshly criticized the FBI, saying the “deep state” includes “elected leaders, journalists, Big Tech moguls, and members of the ‘unelected bureaucracy.'” He vowed to dismantle the “deep state.” They argued that the Justice Department was unfairly targeting Republicans and their allies.
Some Republican lawmakers responded to President Trump’s announcement as follows:
• Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, the next Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, harshly criticized Wray in a social media post, saying the current FBI director “failed” during his tenure. Mr. Grassley added that Mr. Patel “has to prove to Congress” that he will do better than Mr. Wray.
• House Speaker Mike Johnson praised Patel’s selection in a post about X, saying she has “extensive experience in national security and intelligence.” He is an America First patriot who will bring much-needed change and transparency to the FBI. Congratulations, Kash! ”
• Republican Rep. Mike Lawler said he had no qualms about serving as FBI director because of Patel’s previous public service. “Donald Trump has called for reform of the FBI and the Department of Justice. So, frankly, I don’t know why this is surprising to people,” Lawler told CNN’s “General He told Casey Hunt in “The Ministry of Education”. Lawlor added that he did not expect Patel to go on a “revenge tour” or for partisanship to become part of his leadership.
• Republican Sen. Mike Rounds told ABC’s “This Week” that he was not surprised by Trump’s selection and had no current complaints about the way the president-elect selected his cabinet and other key positions. Mr. Rounds said there will be public hearings for the public to weigh in on Mr. Trump’s choices, and that Mr. Trump deserves the benefit of the doubt while the Senate goes through the process of giving him advice and consent. .
• Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said he believed Wray would resign or be fired by Trump regardless of Patel’s nomination. Cruz said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he believes Patel is a strong candidate who can “clean up” Washington.
We will continue to update this post as we receive more responses this morning.
