Happy New Year 2025

Tag: nomination

Senate advances nomination of Kash Patel, Trump’s pick for FBI director

The Senate voted Tuesday along party lines to advance the nomination of Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick for FBI director, clearing a procedural hurdle to set up a final vote on the controversial Trump ally to lead the federal law enforcement agency.

Lawmakers in the Upper Chamber voted 48-45 to advance Patel’s nomination, as Democrats hold concerns that he would operate as a loyalist for the president and target the administration’s political enemies.

This sets up a final confirmation vote later in the week. Some of Trump’s other more controversial picks — including new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — have received enough support from Republican lawmakers seeking to fall in line to push the president’s agenda.

KASH PATEL’S NOMINATION TO LEAD FBI CLEARS FIRST MAJOR SENATE HURDLE

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

A former intelligence and Defense Department official in Trump’s first term, Patel has supported reshaping the FBI, including by expanding its role to carry out Trump’s mission targeting immigration.

He has been a vocal critic of past FBI investigations into Trump, including on Trump’s mishandling of classified documents, his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and debunked allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Patel has been panned for his lack of management experience compared to past FBI directors and for his many incendiary past statements, including calling investigators who probed Trump “government gangsters” and claiming that at least some defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot were “political prisoners.”

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Democrats have also criticized Patel for supporting false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election and his refusal to affirm that former President Joe Biden defeated Trump in that year’s election. But Patel has still received support from many Republicans, including moderates.

“I’ve spoken to multiple people I respect about Kash Patel this weekend—both for and against. The ones who worked closely with Kash vouched for him. I will vote for his confirmation,” Louisiana GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy said Tuesday on X.

PATEL CAMP DECRIES DURBIN ACCUSATIONS AS ‘POLITICALLY MOTIVATED’ ATTEMPT TO DERAIL FBI CONFIRMATION

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Patel said at his confirmation hearing last month that Democrats were taking some of his comments out of context or misunderstanding his point, including when he proposed shutting down the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. and turning it into a museum for the “deep state.” Patel also denied the accusation that his book’s inclusion of a list of government officials who he claimed were part of the “deep state” constituted an “enemies list,” pushing back on that allegation as a “total mischaracterization.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 along party lines last week to advance his nomination to the full Senate.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

February 19, 2025
Senate Judiciary Committee to vote on Kash Patel nomination for FBI director

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote Thursday on whether to advance Kash Patel’s nomination for FBI director to the Senate floor after a fiery confirmation hearing last month.

The vote is scheduled for 9 a.m. ET. If Patel passes through committee, his nomination will be up for a full Senate vote.

Democrats had successfully delayed Patel’s committee vote last week in an effort to force the Trump nominee to testify a second time.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa., said attempts by Judiciary ranking member Sen. 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.

PATEL CAMP DECRIES DURBIN ACCUSATIONS AS ‘POLITICALLY MOTIVATED’ ATTEMPT TO DERAIL FBI CONFIRMATION

Kash Patel appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing at the Capitol, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP)

This week on the Senate floor, Durbin alleged that Patel was behind mass firings at the FBI. Durbin said he’d seen “highly credible” whistleblower reports indicating Patel had been “personally directing the ongoing purge of FBI employees prior to his Senate confirmation for the role.”

An aide to Patel denied Durbin’s claim, telling Fox News Digital the nominee flew home to Las Vegas after his confirmation hearing and has “been sitting there waiting for the process to play out.”

Patel, a vociferous opponent to the investigations into President Donald Trump and who was at the forefront of his 2020 election fraud claims, vowed during his confirmation hearing that he would not engage in political retribution.

However, the conservative firebrand was likely chosen for his desire to upend the agency.

In his 2023 book, “Government Gangsters,” he described the FBI as “a tool of surveillance and suppression of American citizens” and “one of the most cunning and powerful arms of the Deep State.”

Patel has said intelligence officials are “intent” on undermining the president, but he promised he would not go after agents who worked on the classified documents case against Trump.

4 OF THE BIGGEST CLASHES BETWEEN PATEL, SENATE DEMS AT HIS CONFIRMATION HEARING

If Patel passes through committee, his nomination will be up for a full Senate vote. (AP)

“There will be no politicization at the FBI,” Patel said. “There will be no retributive action.”

Additionally, in another message meant to assuage senators’ concerns, Patel said he did not find it feasible to require a warrant for intelligence agencies to surveil U.S. citizens suspected to be involved in national security matters, referring to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

“Having a warrant requirement to go through that information in real time is just not comported with the requirement to protect American citizens,” Patel said. “It’s almost impossible to make that function and serve the national, no-fail mission.”

“Get a warrant” had become a rallying cry of right-wing conservatives worried about the privacy of U.S. citizens and almost derailed the reauthorization of the surveillance program entirely. Patel said the program has been misused, but he does not support making investigators go to court and plead their case before being able to wiretap any U.S. citizen.

Patel also seemed to break with Trump during the hearing on the pardons granted to 1,600 persons who had been prosecuted for their involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, particularly around those who engaged in violence and had their sentences commuted.

Kash Patel served as the acting Defense secretary’s chief of staff during President Donald Trump’s first administration. (White House)

“I have always rejected any violence against law enforcement,” Patel said. “I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual that committed violence against law enforcement.”

Patel held a number of national security roles during Trump’s first administration – chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, senior advisor to the acting director of national intelligence, and National Security Council official.

FORMER TRUMP OFFICIALS REJECT WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIM THAT FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE KASH PATEL BROKE HOSTAGE PROTOCOL

He worked as a senior aide on counterterrorism for former House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, where he fought to declassify records he alleged would show the FBI’s application for a surveillance warrant for 2016 Trump campaign aide Carter Page was illegitimate, and served as a national security prosecutor in the Justice Department.

Patel’s public comments suggest he would refocus the FBI on law enforcement and away from involvement in any prosecutorial decisions.

Kash Patel promised to get the FBI back to its law enforcement mission. (FBI)

In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, he suggested his top two priorities were “let good cops be cops” and “transparency is essential.”

“If confirmed, I will focus on streamlining operations at headquarters while bolstering the presence of field agents across the nation. Collaboration with local law enforcement is crucial to fulfilling the FBI’s mission,” he said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Patel went on: “Members of Congress have hundreds of unanswered requests to the FBI. If confirmed, I will be a strong advocate for congressional oversight, ensuring that the FBI operates with the openness necessary to rebuild trust by simply replying to lawmakers.”

Fox News’ Breanne Depisch contributed to this report.

February 13, 2025
Senate to hold final vote on RFK Jr nomination to serve as Trump’s Health secretary

The Senate is expected on Thursday to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary in President Donald Trump’s cabinet.

The final showdown over Kennedy’s controversial nomination was set in motion after the Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday – in a 53-47 party-line vote – invoked cloture, which started the clock ticking toward the final confirmation roll call.

Kennedy, the well-known vaccine skeptic and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024 before ending his bid and endorsing Trump, needs a simple majority to be confirmed by the Senate.

TRUMP HEALTH SECRETARY NOMINEE RFK JR. SURVIVES HEATED HEARINGS

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing for his pending confirmation on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Kennedy survived back-to-back combustible Senate confirmation hearings late last month, when Trump’s nominee to lead 18 powerful federal agencies that oversee the nation’s food and health faced plenty of verbal fireworks over past controversial comments, including his repeated claims in recent years linking vaccines to autism, which have been debunked by scientific research.

During the hearings, Democrats also spotlighted Kennedy’s service for years as chair or chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit organization he founded that has advocated against vaccines and sued the federal government numerous times, including a challenge over the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for children.

HEAD HERE FOR LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE

With Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee voting not to advance Kennedy, the spotlight was on Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician and chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).

Cassidy issued a last minute endorsement before the committee level vote, giving Kennedy a party-line 14-13 victory to advance his confirmation to the full Senate.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., center, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services, talks with Committee Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., left, following his testimony during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing for his pending confirmation on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Cassidy had emphasized during Kennedy’s confirmation hearings that “your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me,” which left doubt about his support.

However, after speaking again with the nominee, Cassidy rattled off a long list of commitments Kennedy made to him, including quarterly hearings before the HELP Committee; meetings multiple times per month; that HELP Committee can choose representatives on boards or commissions reviewing vaccine safety; and a 30-day notice to the committee, plus a hearing, for any changes in vaccine safety reviews.

“These commitments, and my expectation that we can have a great working relationship to make America healthy again, is the basis of my support,” the senator said.

RFK Jr. and Trump split image (Getty Images)

Earlier this week, another Republican senator who had reservations regarding Kennedy’s confirmation announced support for the nominee.

“After extensive public and private questioning and a thorough examination of his nomination, I will support Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine announced on Tuesday.

Another Republican who was on the fence, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, also voted to advance Kennedy’s nomination.

Murkowski noted that she continues “to have concerns about Mr. Kennedy’s views on vaccines and his selective interpretation of scientific studies,” but that the nominee “has made numerous commitments to me and my colleagues, promising to work with Congress to ensure public access to information and to base vaccine recommendations on data-driven, evidence-based, and medically sound research.”

Former longtime Senate GOP leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, a major proponent of vaccines, also voted to advance Kennedy’s nomination.

Kennedy, whose outspoken views on Big Pharma and the food industry have also sparked controversy, has said he aims to shift the focus of the agencies he would oversee toward promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including overhauling dietary guidelines, taking aim at ultra-processed foods and getting to the root causes of chronic diseases.

The push is part of his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign.

“Our country is not going to be destroyed because we get the marginal tax rate wrong. It is going to be destroyed if we get this issue wrong,” Kennedy said as he pointed to chronic diseases. “And I am in a unique position to be able to stop this epidemic.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a campaign event for this independent presidential bid, on May 1, 2024 in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

The 71-year-old scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty, launched a long-shot campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination against then-President Joe Biden in April 2023. However, six months later, he switched to an independent run for the White House.

Trump regularly pilloried Kennedy during his independent presidential bid, accusing him of being a “Radical Left Liberal” and a “Democrat Plant.”

Kennedy fired back, claiming in a social media post that Trump’s jabs against him were “a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims.”

Then-former President Donald Trump, right, welcomes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the stage at a campaign rally at the Gas South Arena on Oct. 23, 2024 in Duluth, Georgia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

However, Kennedy made major headlines again last August when he dropped his presidential bid and endorsed Trump.

While Kennedy had long identified as a Democrat and repeatedly invoked his late father, former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and his late uncle, former President John F. Kennedy – who were both assassinated in the 1960s – Kennedy in recent years built relationships with far-right leaders due in part to his high-profile vaccine skepticism.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

After months of criticizing him, Trump called Kennedy “a man who has been an incredible champion for so many of these values that we all share.”

Trump announced soon after the November election that he would nominate Kennedy to his Cabinet to run HHS.

The final vote on Kennedy’s nomination comes one day after another controversial pick, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, was confirmed by the Senate in a 52-48 vote.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

February 13, 2025
Key Senate chairman criticizes ‘anonymous sources with ulterior motives,’ stands by Hegseth nomination

A key senator on the Armed Services Committee says he is standing by President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, pushing back on those he called “anonymous sources with ulterior motives” who are casting doubt on his character.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in a statement Wednesday criticized recent reports on a confidential briefing on the FBI background investigation of Hegseth as “starkly and factually inaccurate.”

“It is disturbing that a sensitive, longstanding process used by committee leadership to vet presidential personnel is being litigated in the press by anonymous sources with ulterior motives,” Wicker said, adding that he’s received three separate, detailed briefings on the FBI’s background investigation.

Wicker was responding to a CNN report that cited two sources familiar with the matter who claimed that Hegseth’s ex-wife, Samantha Hegseth, gave a statement to the FBI about Hegseth’s alleged alcohol use. The outlet said one of the sources said Samantha Hegseth told the FBI, “He drinks more often than he doesn’t.”

HEGSETH LAWYER SLAMS ‘FLAWED AND QUESTIONABLE AFFIDAVIT’ FROM EX-SISTER-IN-LAW

Pete Hegseth, left, President Donald Trump’s choice to be Defense Secretary, shakes hands with Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss. after his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Wicker says that he continues to stand by Hegseth.

“After this thorough review, I am ironclad in my assessment that the nominee, Mr. Hegseth, is prepared to be the next Secretary of Defense, and that the allegations unfairly impugning his character do not pass scrutiny,” the senator said.

Pete Hegseth appears at the completion of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Wicker said that Hegseth has the confidence of Trump and the backing of Senate Republicans, and called on the Senate to confirm the nominee “as fast as possible” during this “precarious national security moment.”

‘DESPERATE ATTEMPT’: SENATORS RECEIVE AFFIDAVIT WITH ALLEGATIONS ABOUT HEGSETH’S PREVIOUS MARRIAGE

Hegseth has faced controversy throughout his nomination process.

On Tuesday, Fox News obtained an affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, which alleges he has an alcohol abuse problem and at times made his ex-wife, Samantha, fear for her safety. Danielle Hegseth was married to Pete Hegseth’s brother. She is not the sister of Samantha, Pete Hegseth’s second wife.

But Danielle Hegseth added that she never witnessed any abuse herself, physical or sexual, from Pete against Samantha.

Samantha Hegseth has also denied any physical abuse in a statement first reported by NBC News.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“There was no physical abuse in my marriage. This is the only further statement I will make to you. I have let you know that I am not speaking and will not speak on my marriage to Pete. Please respect this decision,” she reportedly said.

Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson and Fox News’ Tyler Olson, Kelly Phares and Daniel Scully contributed to this report.

January 23, 2025