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RFK Jr, Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel’s Senate confirmation hearings underway on Capitol Hill
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Donald Trump’s FBI director pick Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard and Ambassador to the United Nations hopeful Elise Stefanik are among a string of confirmation hearings happening in the Senate today.
Robert F Kennedy Jr has also returned to Capitol Hill for the second of his hearings. He is facing the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee as he hopes to persuade lawmakers to confirm him as Health and Human Services secretary. Yesterday, while facing the Senate Finance Committee, he was grilled by Democrats on historical statements he made about AIDS and Covid-19.
The meetings have gone ahead despite an American Airlines plane and U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter colliding in Washington, DC late on Wednesday, with officials believing that all 67 people aboard the separate aircraft had died.
The president, who was fully briefed on the situation on Wednesday evening, said on his Truth Social platform that the crash “should have been prevented,” as he lamented over the victims on what he called a “terrible night”.
Trump will speak about the incident at 11 a.m. ET.
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is introducing Tulsi Gabbard.
Both are former National Guard and Army Reserves servicemembers who were deployed to Iraq.
In his opening statement, Kash Patel noted that only 40 percent of Americans have trust in the FBI.
“In order to get it back, there’s a two-fold track, senator. One, violent crime is exploding in this country … Just in 2023 alone, there [were] 100,000 rapes, 100,000 drug overdoses and 17,000 homicides,” said Patel. “The priority of the FBI, if I’m confirmed, will be to ensure that our communities are protected and safeguarded and our children have parts to play it and not needles to walk over.”
“The way we do this. We let good cops be cops,” he added. “We provide them with the tools necessary and resources they need to get after violent crime. The second way we do this on [an] equal track, is aggressive constitutional oversight from Congress. The public trust can only be restored if there is full transparency, and I am committed to that full transparency.”
Asked by Senator Chuck Grassley about January 6 and allegations he’s anti-law enforcement, Patel said, “I have repeatedly, often publicly and privately, said there can never be a tolerance for violence against law enforcement.”
“And anyone that commits an act of violence against law enforcement must be investigated, prosecuted, and imprisoned,” he added “And on January 6, I said the same thing about acts against law enforcement, the Capitol Police who I have served with, and when I was Chief of Staff at the Department of Defense, rushing to the aid of the members of this committee and your colleagues to provide the National Guard was my top mission priority, not politics.”
A sign of how much the Republican Party has changed, Richard Burr, the former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee who voted to convict Donald Trump, is now giving the opening statement to support Tulsi Gabbard.
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
Warner expresses having “significant concerns” about Gabbard’s judgment, including having “repeatedly excused our adversaries’ worst actions,” from blaming NATO for Russia’s 2022 invasion and dismissing reports that Assad used chemical weapons in Syria.
“I don’t know if your intent… was to defend those dictators or if you were simply unaware of the intelligence,” Warner stated. “In either case… it raises serious questions about your judgment.”
He also questions her ability to build trust with U.S. allies for sharing intelligence. “If they stop… the United States will be less safe,” he remarked.
Warner, on Gabbard’s turnaround on FISA warrantless surveillance, which she had previously tried to repeal: “I don’t find your change of heart credible.”
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.
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