Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa on Monday announced she will support Kash Patel to lead the FBI.
Ernst’s announcement came on the same day as her support for journalist Pete Hegseth to become the secretary of defense.
Ernst issued a statement saying she would “support Pete through this process” as he faces headwinds in his Senate confirmation due to allegations of sexual assault and alcohol abuse, which Hegseth has denied, according to the Des Moines Register.
The nomination of Patel has raised eyebrows due to his past writings that were critical of the Deep State.
Kash Patel will create much-needed transparency at the FBI.
He shares my passion for shaking up federal agencies, downsizing the D.C. bureaucracy, and having public servants work on behalf of the American people! pic.twitter.com/TV9Vk9UjVo
— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) December 9, 2024
“Kash Patel will create much-needed transparency at the FBI,” Ernst posted on X.
“He shares my passion for shaking up federal agencies, downsizing the D.C. bureaucracy, and having public servants work on behalf of the American people!”
Ernst had been facing pressure to support Trump’s nominees.
Joni Ernst told me she thinks Kash Patel “is going to be great” she said she knows “Kash, and that’s why i think he’s going to be great. We really do need people that will go in and shake up some of these organizations.”
— Stef Kight (@StefWKight) December 2, 2024
Will supporting Hegseth and Patel save Ernst from being primaried?
“It’s really this simple: If you oppose President Trump’s nominees, you oppose the Trump agenda, and there will be a political price to pay for that. We are well aware that there are certain establishment senators trying to tank the president’s nominees to make him look weak and damage him politically, and we’re just not going to allow that to happen,” a major Trump ally told Fox News.
🚨BREAKING: Joni Ernst expresses support for Kash Patel, saying that he will bring “much-needed transparency”. pic.twitter.com/2qPe139Id8
— PeakPerspective (@PeakPrspective) December 9, 2024
Patel also received support from Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa who called for current FBI Director Christopher Wray to step aside, according to the New York Post.
“For the good of the country, it’s time for you and your deputy to move on to the next chapter in your lives,” Grassley wrote in a letter to Wray, referring to the director and deputy director Paul Abbate.
“[I] must express my vote of no confidence in your continued leadership of the FBI,” he wrote.
The Post noted that Wray still has three years left in the 10-year term to which he was appointed, meaning for Patel to take over, either Wray must leave or Trump must fire him.
“We still don’t know what director Wray’s plans are, but eventually, I assume that Mr. Patel will be confirmed as the next FBI director,” Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said.
Cornyn said he was “certainly inclined to support [Patel], barring some unforeseen circumstances.”
Cornyn said during the meeting, he and Patel discussed the “reputation of the FBI as a nonpartisan law enforcement investigative agency.”
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