Patel will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, Jan. 30. The MAGA loyalist will be in the hot seat and will be pressed on the more controversial elements of his background, such as his deeply polarizing views about gutting the agency he wants to lead and what critics call an “enemies list” of Patel’s opponents. 

Prior to his nomination, Patel flirted with unproven conspiracy theories, including QAnon, made calls to shut down the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., and made overstatements about his role in the Justice Department’s investigation of the Benghazi attack, as reported in the New York Times.

“I think this will be an explosive hearing, but Patel has kept a low profile as a lot of the media attention has focused on other nominees like Hegseth, RFK Jr., and Gabbard,” a source close to the Trump administration said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I think that cover has helped him fly under the radar a bit.”

“We’ve seen Patel lock down support from the Republicans on the committee, so I think you can expect a lot of allies in the hearing room next Thursday,” the person said. 

“Trump is going to stay behind him, and he’s going to get confirmed. The Republicans really don’t have a lot of issues — you can see the difference with Tulsi; you can see the divisions within the Republican Party. With Kash, there are no divisions,” they added.

So far, the majority of Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have either endorsed Patel or signaled they are inclined to support his nomination. Patel can afford to lose three Republican votes in the Senate, and Trump’s aides working on the transition continue to see the same GOP senators as obstacles — Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) — senators who have maintained their independence. 

“I’ll make my own decision,” Collins told the Washington Examiner this month. “I did have a very good meeting with him, and he clearly has a lot of experience, both as a prosecutor and as a public defender.”

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Patel needs to “be honest and answer all the questions” during his hearing.

“I think Mr. Patel needs to look the committee members in the eye, and in doing so, look, look into the eyes of the American people and be honest and answer all questions and don’t dodge and don’t bob and weave,” Kennedy said, speaking to the Washington Examiner last week.

“Be himself and demonstrate that he has command of the FBI’s workings. Demonstrate that he has command of the importance of the FBI and tell everybody exactly how he’s going to approach the job and answer all the questions, answer all the allegations. And if he does that, I think he will be confirmed,” he added.

Patel, a firebrand loyalist, was a key surrogate for Trump on the campaign trail, appearing at many rallies. At a campaign stop in Prescott Valley, Arizona, in mid-October, Patel brushed off criticism that he was too much of a loyalist to be a member of Trump’s Cabinet.

“I’ve only ever told the truth, and anybody else can say whatever they want about me. I was in for 16 years. I served in all three branches of government for multiple administrations,” Patel said, speaking to the Washington Examiner in the weeks leading up to the general election. “President Trump’s the greatest leader we’ve ever had, and for me, from a national security, law enforcement, and defense perspective, there was nobody better. I don’t care what they say about me.”

Patel previously worked in senior roles in the Trump administration in the intelligence community and Department of Defense. But he first gained Trump’s attention while working as a top aide for former Rep. Devin Nunes on the House Intelligence Committee, where he helped lead Republicans’ inquiry into the FBI’s investigation into the Trump 2016 campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia.

Patel wrote a book in 2023 called Government Gangsters, in which he identified members of the so-called deep state who he said were “criminals,” including dozens of prominent Democrats.

After meeting with Patel earlier last week, ranking member Dick Durbin (D-IL) said he would not be supporting Patel’s confirmation. Speaking with reporters last Wednesday, he pointed to the “grievances” in Patel’s book, which he said he read ahead of his meeting.

“What I find instead is a long road of political experiences that is pockmarked along the way with grievances, people have been dissing him too many times, and he’s getting even with them. Read the book. He’s got a list of 60 of them — he doesn’t call it that inherently, but that’s exactly what his goal is to clean up the swamp,” Durbin said. 

A preview of Patel’s hearing was on full display this month during the confirmation hearing for his prospective boss, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi. Senate Democrats focused their questioning on Patel early in the hearing, and it remained consistent throughout the nearly six-hour hearing.

Democrats on the panel expressed concern to Bondi about Patel’s perceived “enemies list,” his commentary about QAnon conspiracy theories, his statements about targeting the media, and more, signaling they view Patel as an easier target.

During the hearing, Bondi gave an endorsement of Patel, stating he is the “right person” for the job, and declined to criticize or defend his previous statements. 

“I don’t believe he has an enemies list. He made a quote on TV that I have not heard,” Bondi said, specifically avoiding discussing Patel’s book.

Following his meeting with Kash Patel, @SenatorDurbin points to Patel’s book, saying it is disqualifying.

“What I find instead is a long road of political experiences that is pockmarked along the way with grievances, people have been dissing him too many times,” he said. pic.twitter.com/9qpAq7BjPN

— Samantha-Jo Roth (@SamanthaJoRoth) January 24, 2025

However, Democrats have made it clear they intend to bring up the book during Patel’s hearing, a topic he won’t be able to avoid. Durbin also indicated he had concerns surrounding some of Patel’s business dealings.

“There’s a lot of serious questions. He’s even engaging in quackeries, selling dietary supplements that are supposed to relieve you of the symptoms of COVID-19. I mean, this administration is just loaded with people who want to practice medicine, and he’s just one of them,” Durbin said. 

In his meeting with Patel, Durbin said he repeatedly asked Patel to clarify statements he made in a 2023 podcast interview with Steve Bannon in which he said he’d come after “the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections.”

“I asked him repeatedly. He denied it. Many times we showed him quotes, and it still didn’t make any difference,” Durbin said. “But he’s racing away from the most controversial comments he’s made, the ones that sold the books and ended up supporting him financially.”