By Tim Reid
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) – Several Republican U.S. senators said on Sunday they would back President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Kash Patel to head the FBI, an early show of support for a loyalist who has called for the bureau to be purged of those who oppose Trump’s agenda.
Patel, nominated by Trump on Saturday, also has advocated for a campaign of retribution against Trump’s perceived enemies.
Patel, 44, could face a challenging confirmation process with the U.S. Senate. During Trump’s first term, Patel, who advised both the director of national intelligence and the defense secretary, drew animosity from some more experienced national security officials, who saw him as volatile and too eager to please the then-president.
While some Democrats on Sunday voiced concerns that the law enforcement agency would become politicized and a tool for Trump to pursue adversaries under Patel, several senior Republican senators praised Trump’s pick.
Republican U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he had encouraged Trump to pick Patel.
“There are serious problems at the FBI. The American public knows it. They expect to see sweeping change, and Kash Patel is just the type of person to do it,” Hagerty said.
Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz called Patel “a very strong nominee.”
Cruz told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that Patel was a “real reformer” who would enter the FBI “to clean out the corrupted partisans” running the agency.
Republicans will have a majority when the new U.S. Congress reconvenes in January.
By nominating Patel, Trump is signaling that he is preparing to carry out his threat to oust current FBI Director Christopher Wray, whose 10-year term does not expire until 2027.
Wray, a Republican appointed by Trump in 2017, has since drawn his ire, especially after an FBI raid in 2022 on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Florida estate to search for classified government documents.
U.S. Republican Senator Mike Rounds said he was not surprised Trump would want personnel “that he believes are very loyal.”
Rounds said he had no issues with Wray’s performance as FBI director, however, calling him “a good man” on ABC’s “This Week.”
Dick Durbin, a senior U.S. Democratic senator who will be one of the senators questioning Patel during his confirmation hearing, said in a statement: “The Senate should reject this unprecedented effort to weaponize the FBI for the campaign of retribution that Donald Trump has promised.”
Chuck Grassley, a veteran Republican senator, wrote on X that he would be happy to see Wray replaced but said Patel needed to prove himself in his confirmation hearing.
“Kash Patel must prove to Congress he will reform & restore public trust in FBI,” Grassley said.
(Reporting by Tim Reid in West Palm Beach, Florida. Additional reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Richard Chang)
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