Patel, a onetime national security prosecutor, "must prove to Congress he will reform & restore public trust in FBI,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, in line to be the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman when Republicans take control in January, in a post on X.
Other Republicans who appeared on the Sunday news shows at the end of the Thanksgiving holiday and before returning to work this week were in Patel's corner.
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said Patel “represents the type of change that we need to see in the FBI. ... The entire agency needs to be cleaned out.” He told NBC's “Meet the Press” that “there are serious problems at the FBI. The American public knows it. They expect to see sweeping change, and Kash Patel’s just the type of person to do it.”
He said Patel has “relevant experience” to head the FBI and “he's the one that can see through the fix here.”
During Trump's first term, Patel was an aide to the then-Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee before taking roles at the White House National Security Council and later at the Defense Department.
Patel “played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution,” Trump wrote Saturday night in a social media post.
Grassley said in his post that Wray “has failed at fundamental duties” and that it was time to “chart a new course 4 TRANSPARENCY +ACCOUNTABILITY at FBI.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Patel was a “very strong nominee” and he thought Patel would be confirmed.
“All of the weeping and gnashing of teeth, all the people pulling their hair out, are exactly the people who are dismayed about having a real reformer come into the FBI,” Cruz told CBS' “Face the Nation.”
To Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Judiciary Committee member like Cruz, Patel “has more experience than just about anybody coming into this position,” she said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
