A critical vote on the nomination of Kash Patel to become President Donald Trump‘s director of the FBI has been delayed at the behest of Senate Democrats.
The Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee was set to vote on advancing the nomination on Thursday, but that is now expected to happen in one week.
During a meeting of the panel, Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said the nomination was “held over,” recognizing a request by the Democrats as prescribed under committee rules.
As reported by Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Grassley also said the committee would send Patel’s nomination to the Senate floor “168 hours from now,” which is in seven days.
“Unbelievable. Democrat Senators are running scared,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said in a post to X.
“They’re terrified that [Patel] is going to reform the 7th floor of the Hoover Building, arrest bad guys, and end 4 years of liberal weaponized government. Delay tactics are just that,” he added. “Kash WILL BE CONFIRMED.”
Democrats argue Patel is a problematic choice to lead the FBI and say they want more time to evaluate the nominee’s “misleading” testimony.
“Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s FBI Director pick, is an unqualified, unserious nominee who will make us less safe,” Senate Judiciary Democrats said on X. “He’s a vengeful extremist — to the point that he seemingly lied under oath.”
The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee previously secured a one-week delay on consideration of Pam Bondi to become U.S. Attorney General. After waiting seven days, the committee voted along party lines to advance Bondi’s nomination to the full Senate. The Senate voted 54-46 to confirm Bondi to the Cabinet role on Tuesday with Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) breaking ranks.
Grassley also criticized Democrats for “forcing” the committee to meet just to hold over a nominee, noting how Republicans did not pull such a move when they were in the minority in the last Congress.
“Our committee works best when both sides uphold norms regardless of which party holds the majority at any one time,” he said. “I’m disappointed that my colleagues aren’t reciprocating a courtesy we extended in good faith when we were in the minority.”
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the ranking member, acknowledged that what Grassley said was “true” and used the platform to disparage Patel.
