US Senate confirms Kash Patel as next FBI director
Hugo Lowell
The US Senate has confirmed Kash Patel as the next FBI director, handing oversight of the nation’s premier law enforcement agency to an official who has declined to explicitly say whether he would use his position to pursue Donald Trump’s political opponents.
Patel Patel was narrowly confirmed on Thursday in a 51-49 vote, a reflection of the polarizing nature of his nomination and what Democrats see as his unwillingness to keep the bureau independent from partisan politics or resist politically charged requests from the president.
Notably, at his confirmation hearing, Patel refused to commit that he would not use his position to investigate officials he portrayed as Trump’s adversaries in his book, and affirmed that he believed the FBI was answerable to the justice department and, ultimately, the White House.
Patel’s responses suggest that his arrival at FBI headquarters will usher in a new chapter for the bureau as a result of his adherence to Trump’s vision of a unitary executive, where the president directs every agency, and willingness to prioritize the administration’s policy agenda.
You can read more about Patel’s confirmation here:
Key events
Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse had some harsh words for Kash Patel and his Republican colleagues who voted for his confirmation earlier today.
Whitehouse said Patel is the “first senior law enforcement official in American history to have plead the fifth, and he’s been unwilling to even explain to the judiciary committee what crimes it was that he was concerned about that caused him to plead the fifth.
“Kash Patel, mark my words, will cause evil in this building behind us. Republicans who vote for him will rue that day.”
Kash Patel’s confirmation was a close one.
If more than three Republican senators voted against him, Patel wouldn’t have been confirmed.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski announced earlier today on X that she planned to vote against Patel’s nomination, largely due to his refusal to cooperate with 6 January investigations.
“My reservations with Mr. Patel stem from his own prior political activities and how they may influence his leadership,” Murkowski wrote.
“The FBI must be trusted as the federal agency that roots out crime and corruption, not focused on settling political scores. I have been disappointed that when he had the opportunity to push back on the administration’s decision to force the FBI to provide a list of agents involved in the January 6 investigations and prosecutions, he failed to do so.”
US Senate confirms Kash Patel as next FBI director
Hugo Lowell
The US Senate has confirmed Kash Patel as the next FBI director, handing oversight of the nation’s premier law enforcement agency to an official who has declined to explicitly say whether he would use his position to pursue Donald Trump’s political opponents.
Patel Patel was narrowly confirmed on Thursday in a 51-49 vote, a reflection of the polarizing nature of his nomination and what Democrats see as his unwillingness to keep the bureau independent from partisan politics or resist politically charged requests from the president.
Notably, at his confirmation hearing, Patel refused to commit that he would not use his position to investigate officials he portrayed as Trump’s adversaries in his book, and affirmed that he believed the FBI was answerable to the justice department and, ultimately, the White House.
Patel’s responses suggest that his arrival at FBI headquarters will usher in a new chapter for the bureau as a result of his adherence to Trump’s vision of a unitary executive, where the president directs every agency, and willingness to prioritize the administration’s policy agenda.
You can read more about Patel’s confirmation here:
Jessica Glenza
Academics and scientists who work with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said the Trump administration’s orders have severely disrupted work – delaying projects and casting the future of research funding and jobs into doubt as chaos in the agency reigns.
An array of orders seeks to fundamentally reshape the NIH, the world’s largest public funder of biomedical and behavioral research, in the Trump administration’s image. The agency’s work is the wellspring of scientific advancement in the US, and helped make the country a dominant force in health and science.
“They will have drastic effects on all of us – this is not hyperbole, this is fact,” said Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors and an anthropologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
The orders “will kill”, Wolfson said, as advances in the treatment of diseases as diverse as cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes are delayed.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk are taking a sledgehammer to the greatest biomedical infrastructure in the world to extend tax cuts,” Wolfson said.
Here’s more on this story:
Waltz says Ukraine must sign deal handing over half its mineral wealth to US
Mike Waltz, the national security adviser, said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy needs to sign a deal handing over half of the country’s mineral wealth to the US.
The deal proposes giving Washington $500bn worth of natural resources, including oil and gas to recognize the amount of aid that the US has provided it with.
“He needs to come back to the table,” Waltz said of Zelenskyy.
It comes after the Ukrainian leader rejected US demands for $500bn in mineral wealth from Ukraine to repay Washington for wartime aid. Zelenskyy has pointed out that the US had provided $69.2bn in assistance under the Biden administration – far less than the figure the new White House is demanding. He said an agreement depended on the US giving security guarantees for a post-war settlement.
Trump ‘very frustrated’ that Zelenskyy ‘hasn’t been willing’ to take ‘opportunity’ of US peace talks, says aide
Mike Waltz, the national security adviser, said Donald Trump’s “frustration” with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is “multifold”.
Waltz, at a White House briefing, said Trump was “obviously very frustrated” with Zelenskyy.
“The fact that that he hasn’t come to the table, that he hasn’t been willing to take this opportunity that we have offered,” he said.
Waltz said “some of the rhetoric” and “insults” about Trump were “unacceptable”. Waltz said:
There needs to be a deep appreciation for what the American people, what the American taxpayer, what President Trump did in his first term.
Trump aide says US supports Nato article 5
Mike Waltz, the national security adviser, said the US fully supports Article 5 of the Nato alliance but that its European partners need to increase their spending.
“It is unacceptable that the United States and the United States taxpayer continues to bear the burden of the cost of the war in Ukraine [and] the defense of Europe,” Waltz said.
We fully support our Nato allies. We fully support the Article Five commitment, but it’s time for European partners to step up.
Waltz said he spoke with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte about how a third of Nato member countries were still not meeting the 2% GDP in defense requirement.
Somebody else needs to pay. We’ve got other domestic priorities. It’s unacceptable.
Article 5 says an attack on one member will be considered an attack on all members of Nato.
‘If anyone can go toe to toe with Putin, Xi and Kim Jong-un, it’s Trump’, says aide
National security adviser Mike Waltz was asked whether he was confident in the Trump administration’s competence to go “toe to toe” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Waltz, at the White House briefing, said there was “no question” that Donald Trump is the commander in chief.
If there’s anybody in this world that can go toe to toe with Putin, that could go toe to toe with Xi [Jinping], that could go toe to toe with Kim Jong Un … It’s Donald J Trump.
He said the world should have no doubt that Trump has the ability to “handle” Putin and to bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
Mike Waltz, the national security adviser, said US foreign policy has seen a “sea change” since Donald Trump’s return to the White House last month.
Waltz described Trump’s first term as a “world of peace and prosperity”, and said Trump is a “president of peace”.
“We are all all honored to be serving under his leadership and his vision,” Waltz said.
He said he was in the Oval Office when Trump spoke with Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week. Waltz said:
Only President Trump could bring both sides to the table, and only President Trump could stop the horrific fighting going on now for the better part of four years, and only President Trump could drive the world back to peace.
Kevin Hassett, director of the national economic council, accused Joe Biden of allowing inflation to get “completely out of control” with policies “that made no sense”.
Hassett, at the White House briefing, spoke about the Trump administration’s plans to fight inflation at “every level”.
“We’re cutting spending in negotiations with people on the Hill. We’re cutting spending with the advice of our IT consultant Elon Musk,” he said.
He warned that “some memory of Biden’s inflation” will continue. “It’s not going to go away in a month.”
Stephen Miller, the White House’s deputy chief of staff, said no American president has “come close to what Donald Trump has achieved over just the last 30 days”.
Miller, at the White House briefing, said the “consequentiality” and “transformative nature” of the actions that Trump has taken in his first month back in office “truly defies description”.
Trump has ended all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across the federal government, Miller said, claiming the country has been “plagued and crippled” by DEI policies.
Trump has ended the “weaponization” of the federal government, and “restored the department of justice to its true mission”, Miller said.
Miller notes that Trump restored the death penalty as a toll by the justice department. “The death penalty is back,” he said. “Law and order is back.”
The White House has announced that Donald Trump will host his first official cabinet meeting at the White House next Wednesday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also confirmed that Trump will host the French president, Emmanuel Macron, on Monday and the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, on Thursday.
Today’s briefing is also being attended by national security adviser Mike Waltz, deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and national economic council director Kevin Hassett.