During Jan. 15 confirmation hearings for Pam Bondi, Trump's nominee for attorney general who oversees the FBI as part of the Justice Department, Democratic senators pressed Bondi on whether Patel was a good choice to run the agency, pointing to Patel's previous comments calling for downsizing the intelligence community.

Key appointees of United States President Donald Trump to major positions in government, including Tulsi Gabbard and Kashyap Patel, face Senate hearings on Thursday to approve their appointments. On Wednesday, Robert F Kennedy Jr faced a barrage of questions during a contentious Senate hearing on his nomination to be Trump’s health secretary.

Kash Patel, President Trump's nominee to serve as FBI director, is set to appear Thursday on Capitol Hill for a high-stakes confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee amid calls from Republicans for massive reforms in FBI leadership and concerns from Democrats about his fitness to lead the nation's top law enforcement agency.