Trump administration live: RFK Jr returns to Senate as trio of president’s controversial picks face hearings

Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Mark Warner reminds Tulsi Gabbard of the stakes of the Director of National Intelligence role in his opening statement — she will be responsible for 18 agencies, serve as principal adviser to the president as well as the national security and homeland security counsels, and oversee $100 billion between the national intelligence and military intelligence programs

Kash Patel is sitting for his confirmation hearing with the House Judiciary Committee to become the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A former aide to President Donald Trump and a former chief of staff at the Department of Defense, Patel has parroted large parts of the president’s criticism of the bureau.

He has suggested that the FBI’s authority be severely restricted after claims by Republicans that the FBI has improperly targeted conservatives in the last few years, allegations that the departing FBI Director Christopher Wray has rejected.

Critics of Patel argue that he is not qualified to lead the nation’s top law enforcement agency and that he wants to direct the FBI to target Trump’s adversaries.

The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, told the nominee in his opening statement: “Mr. Patel, you must be fair, you must be consistent, but you must be aggressive. Your actions must be based on accountability, and transparency brings accountability.”

He added: “Should you do so, you’ll have my support, and remember, either you’re going to run your agency or the agency’s going to run you, and the agency certainly ended up running Director Wray, and probably people before him.”

The ranking member, Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, slammed Patel in his own opening statement, saying, “Since 1935, the motto of the FBI has been fidelity, bravery, integrity. These qualities represent the course of the Bureau’s core values and the high standards that are expected of all of its employees, including the director of the FBI.”

He added: “After meeting with Mr. Patel and reviewing his record, I do not believe you meet this standard. Mr. Patel has neither the experience, the temperament nor the judgment to lead an agency of 38,000 agents and 400 field offices around the globe.”

“During the time I’ve served on this committee, I’ve had the opportunity to consider four FBI Director nominations. Each one was a Republican, and I voted for all of them,” said Durbin.

Tulsi Gabbard sits, dressed in white. Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton is leading a moment of silence for the crash victims.

Cotton mentions that Pam Bondi, Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General, is also present in the room.

Cotton states, “I’m dismayed by the attacks on Ms. Gabbard’s patriotism and loyalty.”

He adds that Gabbard was “smeared” by Hillary Clinton as an asset to a foreign nation, despite her military service.

“She has undergone five FBI background checks,” and he spent “two hours last night going over the latest.”

“It’s clean as a whistle,” Cotton remarked.

Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin begins his opening statement by discussing Kash Patel’s 2024 book, Government Gangsters, which he claims includes an “enemies list” appendix featuring 60 “members of the deep state.”

Durbin reviews Patel’s previous statements, noting that Patel asserted the FBI had been planning the January 6 Capitol riot “for over a year.”

He also highlights Patel’s work on the “J6 Prison Choir” album, which includes a spoken word feature by now-President Donald Trump.

Robert F Kennedy Jr is now appearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, known as HELP.

It’s a crucial day for both Kennedy and the committee chairman, Republican Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who could be an all-important swing vote for confirmation.

Cassidy closely questioned Kennedy yesterday before the Senate’s Finance Committee, while his Republican colleagues gave the nominee a warmer reception.

It’s close quarters today, with senators, aides, reporters, and Kennedy’s supporters packed into the 5th-floor hearing room of a Senate office building.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley states that Kash Patel has endured “unfounded attacks” and “false smears.”

He emphasizes that Patel possesses “precisely the qualifications we need at this time when the FBI is not being respected by our public.”

Grassley highlights Patel’s experience in managing extensive intelligence and defense bureaucracies while promoting government transparency.

“Public trust in the FBI is low,” Grassley remarked, reiterating Republican assertions that the agency has been employed in recent years as a political weapon. “It’s your job to restore the public trust and return the FBI to its core mission of fighting crime.”

“Mr Patel, I know you know this but it’s your job to restore the public trust and return the FBI to its core mission of fighting crime. Your extensive background gives you a unique position to make this happen. Mr. Patel’s career has been a study in fighting unpopular but righteous causes, exposing corruption, and putting America first.”

With reporting from the AP

Richard Hall and Andrew Feinberg write:

Even before Gabbard left the Democratic Party, ingratiated herself with Donald Trump and secured his nomination to become director of National Intelligence, she was known as a prolific peddler of Russian propaganda.

In almost every foreign conflict in which Russia had a hand, Gabbard backed Moscow and railed against the US. Her past promotion of Kremlin propaganda has provoked significant opposition on both sides of the aisle to her nomination.

Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation to be Director of National Intelligence will likely hinge on two Republican senators’ votes in the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Many Republicans will likely vote for Gabbard out of deference to President Donald Trump. That would include Chairman Tom Cotton, who, despite his hawkishness toward Russia, would likely not want to cross Trump.

But keep an eye on some Republicans with more conventional foreign policy. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is a long-time member of the Senate Intelligence Committee who last week voted against Pete Hegseth’s confirmation to be Secretary of Defense.

Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, another Republican with traditional views of a robust foreign policy, will likely be another person to watch.

Traditionally, the Intelligence Committee votes behind closed doors because of the sensitive nature of their work. But if Gabbard emerges without unanimous consensus from the committee, that might give permission for other wobbly Republicans like Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, or Mitch McConnell to vote no.