Trump Nominates Kash Patel to Lead FBI: What’s Behind the move and What’s next for Christopher Wray?
Republican President-elect Donald Trump ushered in a bold move signaling a change for the FBI on Saturday by picking former National Security official and loyalist Kash Patel to lead the Bureau. Trump could end the term of the current FBI Director, Christopher Wray, whom Trump himself appointed in 2017.
Patel’s Vision for the FBI: A Radical Overhaul
Kash Patel, who marched to the drums of Trump as he beat the drums against the FBI’s intelligence division, has long worked to shake up the agency from within. During Trump’s first term, Patel worked as an adviser to the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense. Dismantling the FBI’s intelligence gathering operations and purging those employees with dissenting Trump agendas is what he has called for publicly.
In a controversial September interview on the conservative Shawn Ryan Show, Patel expressed his views on overhauling the FBI:
**” The FBI’s intel shops are the biggest problem the agency has had. If it’s that kind of component, I’d break it out of it. Patel said that I’d shut the FBI Hoover building down my first day in office and open it back up the next as a museum of the deep state. *“I will then take the 7,000 employees that work in that building and deploy them across America, where they’re needed to chase down criminals. Be cops. You’re cops. Go be cops.”*
The End of Wray’s Tenure?
Patel’s nomination, however, points to Trump turning his long-held threat to fire Wray to name her the new top cop at the agency. With Wray’s 10-year term due to run until 2027, Trump’s move to appoint Patel forcloses a sharp signal of intention to oust Wray as head of the FBI, who was also responsible for managing Trump’s Mar a Lago documents case and other sensitive investigations involving the former President.
In response to questions about Patel’s nomination, an FBI spokesperson reiterated the Bureau’sBureau’s commitment to protecting the American people: And the men and women of the FBI go to work every day to protect the American people from a growing variety of threats, they said. ‘ The FBI’s focus stays on the men and women of the FBI who we do the work with, and who we do the job for, remains on the men and women of the FBI,’ said Director Wray.
Troublesome History, Potentially Bumpy Welcome for Patel
Patel’s life is full of contentious moments. He was at the forefront of the House Republicans’ investigation into the FBI’s 2016 probe of ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia. During Trump’s first impeachment trial, Patel was also a controversial figure after former National Security Council official Fiona Hill warned that Patel had used his position for covert actions in Ukraine.
Patel left office in 2021 but continued to support Trump’s legal fights. He participated in efforts to fight the FBI’s probe into Trump’s holding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Patel also wrote a book titled “Government Gangsters” that Trump endorsed as a “roadmap” to undo what Trump calls the “Deep State.”
Though many Republicans support Patel, his nomination is expected to encounter resistance from Senate Democrats and potentially some Republicans. Patel’s nomination also has high-profile supporters, like Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
. Trump’s Enforcement Overhaul
Trump’s choice for FBI Director is one of his crucial law enforcement nominations. He said Chad Chronister, the sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, was his choice for administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In his dual role, Chronister would collaborate with Trump’s choice for attorney general, Pam Bondi, on efforts to make the border more secure and to combat illegal drugs.
“As DEA Administrator, Chad will work with our great Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to secure the border, stop the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs across the Southern Border, and SAVE LIVES,” Trump said.
What’s Next for the FBI?
Whether the controversial figure will get enough support remains to be seen as Patel’s nomination heads to the Senate for confirmation. If confirmed, Patel’s time at the helm of the FBI could radically reconfigure the Bureau under the watch of a Trumpian leader. That outcome will likely ratchet tensions in a battle over the FBI’s future and the Bureau’s path forward with the incoming administration.