Support for Patel to run FBI mostly divided along party lines, but ousting Wray appears more complex

President-elect Donald Trump sent shockwaves through the Washington establishment and the halls of Congress this weekend when he named Kash Patel as his choice to be the new FBI director. 

While Patel appeared to be the favorite among MAGA supporters for the position, he also appears to have rattled those inside the FBI and Justice Department accused of using their power to undermine Trump.

The 44-year-Patel, in fact, made a public pitch for the post before being nominated, saying a top priority if confirmed would be to shutdown the FBI headquarters and "reopen it the next day as a museum of the ‘deep state.’” 

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who is in line to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the new Congress and will be presiding over the confirmation hearing for Patel, posted on X that Christopher Wray, the current FBI director who was appointed by Trump in 2017 after he fired James Comey from that position, has “failed at fundamental duties of FBI” director, and said that Wray has shown “disdain” for congressional “oversight and hasn’t lived up to his promises,” according to The Washington Times. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Sunday told CBS News’s “Face the Nation” that Patel is a “very strong nominee” and said it is “no secret” that Wray will resign or be fired. 

“You look at his background, he has a serious professional background,” Cruz said of Patel. “He was a prosecutor; he was a public defender. He was a senior intelligence staffer on Capitol Hill. He was a senior intelligence staffer in the White House. He was the chief of staff of the Department of Defense. He was the deputy director of national intelligence."

But not everyone is pleased. 

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton compared Patel to one of the former Soviet Union’s most feared secret police chiefs, Lavrentiy Beria, according to The Hill. 

“Trump has nominated Kash Patel to be his Lavrentiy Beria,” Bolton said in a statement to NBC News’ “Meet The Press” on Sunday. “Fortunately, the FBI is not the NKVD. The Senate should reject this nomination 100-0.”

Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakota, made clear his support for Wray: 

“I think the president picked a very good man to be the director of the FBI when he did that in his first term,” Rounds told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson congratulated Patel in a post on the social platform X. 

“Kash Patel has extensive experience in national security and intelligence,” the Louisiana Republican wrote. “He is an America First patriot who will bring much-needed change and transparency to the FBI.”

Senator Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” that Patel “represents the type of change that we need to see in the FBI.”

“This entire agency needs to be cleaned out. It’s not doing its job,” he said of Wray, while also arguing there are “serious problems” with the “politicization” that has occured in the bureau.

“The American public knows it,” Hagerty continued. “They expect to see sweeping change and Kash Patel is just the type of person to do it.”

When Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin was asked for his reaction on CNN’s “State of the Union,” he replied, “Christopher Wray, of course, is a Republican, appointed by a Republican, as he has said, but apparently has demonstrated too much the independence and objectivity in the job for Donald Trump, who wants much more of a personal loyalist in the position. And that's why he's gone to Kash Patel.”

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said on CNN on Saturday night that “The fact that Kash Patel is profoundly unqualified for this job is not even like a matter for debate. So I think what we should, what we should really be thinking about right now is what does this signal in terms of Donald Trump’s intent for the FBI,” according to The Hill. 

He also said Patel’s leadership would “disrupt,” “dismantle” and “distract” the agency.

Michael Flynn, a retired Army general who briefly served as Trump’s national security adviser at the beginning of his first term in office, posted on the social platform X that “Kash is America’s choice as Director of the FBI. Accountability is coming. Congratulations and well deserved.”