If Kash Patel has his way, the FBI’s top ranks will be fired. The bureau’s headquarters will be emptied out and shuttered, and its authority will be “dramatically limited and refocused,” he wrote in a 2023 book. President-elect Trump’s choice to lead the FBI has set off alarm among many national security veterans, law enforcement officials and others who have worked with him. The former prosecutor and national security aide has the support of at least some key Republican senators, but critics say he lacks the record and temperament needed to run the premier law enforcement agency. They point to his lack of experience as well as his history of remarks attacking Trump opponents and threatening to punish perceived foes. “The idea that he is going to become the FBI director is appalling,” said Charles Kupperman, deputy national security adviser in the previous Trump White House while Patel worked as an aide to the National Security Council. “His legal career is modest at best. His ideas are ludicrous.” Patel’s record is light on managing a large workforce and heavy on bombastic rhetoric and fervent loyalty to Trump. His detractors, fear Patel would weaponize an agency with sweeping powers and misuse sensitive intelligence, reports the Washington Post.
Some Republicans have hailed the pick. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said, “If you’re going to clean up the FBI … Kash is the perfect person.” Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney general, said in her confirmation hearing Wednesday, "I have known Kash, and I believe that Kash is the right person at this time for this job,”
In meetings with senators, Patel said he wants to increase FBI partnerships with local and state law enforcement. He has also emphasized the need for increased transparency, as some senators have complained their requests for information from the bureau frequently go unanswered. Patel would lead an organization with more than 30,000 employees, more than 400 offices across the U.S. and dozens more around the world. Patel has bristled at suggestions that he was not experienced enough for top jobs in government. William Barr threatened to resign as attorney general when Trump considered making Patel deputy FBI director during his first White House term. Patel says he is thew same age Barr was when he was first named attorney general in 1991, during the administration of George H.W. Bush.
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