The Senate Judiciary Committee intends to hold a confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, on Jan. 29, committee ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told reporters on Tuesday.
If that date stands, it would coincide with the panel’s scheduled vote the same day to report out the nomination of Pam Bondi, Trump’s selection for attorney general.
Durbin, along with Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), said he has now received Patel’s background investigation materials, which are required for every Cabinet nomination in advance of a confirmation hearing.
Durbin emphasized, however, that he would not be supporting Patel’s confirmation, pointing to the “trail of grievances” in his book “Government Gangsters,” which the senator said he read before meeting with Patel in a recent one-on-one meeting.
“Kash Patel has neither the experience, the judgment, nor the temperament to serve as head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Durbin said.
Durbin also said he would meet later this week with Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins.
