Senate confirms Kash Patel as Trump’s FBI director
CNN
The Senate voted on Thursday to confirm Kash Patel as FBI director, installing a staunch loyalist of President Donald Trump and conservative firebrand at the head of the nation’s top law enforcement agency.
The Senate voted on Thursday to confirm Kash Patel as FBI director, installing a staunch loyalist of President Donald Trump and conservative firebrand at the head of the nation’s top law enforcement agency. The nomination faced intense scrutiny from Democrats on Capitol Hill who have warned that Patel is poised to use the position to seek retribution against Trump’s perceived political enemies. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Patel said there will be “no politicization” at the FBI and “no retributive actions” and accused Democrats of cherry-picking excerpts of old comments. “Snippets of information are often misleading,” Patel said at one point. The role of FBI director is supposed to be a 10-year term to insulate the position from politics. But after winning back the White House, Trump made clear that he wanted then-FBI chief Chris Wray out, leading Wray to resign and paving the way for Patel to be confirmed. Republicans have defended Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, arguing that Patel will bring needed transparency to the FBI and dismissing controversial past statements as hyperbole. Senate Republicans have now approved a slate of nominees who initially faced questions over whether they would be able to win confirmation, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services, Pete Hegseth as defense secretary and Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.
Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, will appear in court on Friday to face murder and terror charges in his New York state case.
A former Colorado sheriff’s deputy was convicted of criminally negligent homicide Thursday in the shooting death of a 22-year-old man in distress who called 911 for help after his car got stuck in a small mountain community.
A plane carrying more than 170 Venezuelan migrants who were held in Guantanamo Bay after being deported from the US arrived in Venezuela on Thursday, according to CNN sources.
The US Marshals Service has deputized members of Elon Musk’s private security detail, giving them certain rights and protections of federal law enforcement agents, three law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told CNN.
A diplomatic back-and-forth is underway among Group of Seven members over a joint statement marking the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the United States resisting a reference to “Russian aggression” in the document.
Senate Republicans kicked off a marathon vote series Thursday evening in a bid to adopt a budget blueprint, taking the first step to advance President Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda and setting up a clash with the House.
CNN’s 5 Things PM brings you the stories you might have missed during your busy day.
The US Senate on Thursday voted to approve Kash Patel as FBI director in a mostly party-line vote, clearing the way for one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial appointments.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says she’ll propose reforms to the country’s constitution aiming to reinforce the nation’s sovereignty, after the US designated several Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations – a move that could potentially lay the groundwork for direct US strikes inside Mexican territory.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to announce Thursday that she will not use her executive powers to remove Mayor Eric Adams from office at least for now, two sources briefed on the decision told CNN.
The Senate voted on Thursday to confirm Kash Patel as FBI director, installing a staunch loyalist of President Donald Trump and conservative firebrand at the head of the nation’s top law enforcement agency.
The Trump administration’s swift, sweeping cuts to the federal workforce is set to derail the livelihoods of potentially thousands of military families.
According to an unsealed federal criminal complaint filed against seven Chilean men allegedly involved in the crime spree, investigators used cell phone records, GPS and iCloud data to link the suspects to the theft of almost $3 million in luxury goods from professional athletes.