Key Points
Patel moves closer to historic FBI Director nomination
Controversial Trump-era official seeks top law enforcement role
Senate vote signals potential confirmation
Breaks potential diversity barrier in FBI leadership
The US Senate, which must confirm the nomination, voted 48-45 along party lines to open debate on the nominee, starting the countdown for 30 hours of discussion before Patel is expected to receive final approval Thursday.
Patel, who is 44 years old, has been one of the most controversial of those named by President Donald Trump to his cabinet and administration. The others -- Director of National Intelligence, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and defence secretary Pete Hegseth were confirmed in party-line voting that is also expected to put Patel over the finish line as well.
Republican senators who had seemed opposed to some of these controversial nominees had all fallen in line with the president and confirmed every one of his nominees except Matt Getz, who was nominated to head the justice department as attorney general.
He was forced to withdraw his nomination when it became clear several Republican senators remained unconvinced of his fitness for the job in the light of a barrage of negative news reports about his sexual relations with minors.
Patel is a former public defender who has seen a meteoric rise in the power structure of Washington DC in recent years, rising up to be the chief of staff at the department of defence and deputy director of national intelligence in President Trump's first term. Trump has now been nominated to head the FBI, an agency that investigated Trump for alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office in 2021 and for trying to overturn the 2020 election defeat to President Joe Biden.
