Trump pick Kash Patel must prove he’ll restore public faith in the FBI, a leading GOP senator says

WASHINGTON (AP) — to upend the FBI was welcomed by Republican senators although it was not clear on Sunday how strongly members of the incoming majority party would embrace to install as the of the Justice Department’s top investigative arm.

Patel, a onetime national security prosecutor who is aligned with the president-elect’s rhetoric about a “deep state,” “must prove to Congress he will reform & restore public trust in FBI,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, in line to be the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman when Republicans take control in January, in a post on X.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, takes his seat as the panel convenes to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees in the closing weeks of the 118th Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) 

Patel lacks the high-level legal and management experience that FBI directors, including , and who now holds that job, had before their nominations. It’s a 10-year term, and Trump named in 2017 after firing . So Trump’s announcement late Saturday means Wray must either resign or be fired after Trump takes office on Jan. 20, 2025.