Trump’s FBI pick Kash Patel learns his fate after crucial vote: Live updates

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill:

President Trump’s pick to lead the FBI cleared a major hurdle today on his path to become the United State’s top cop after Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Kash Patel’s nomination.

The vote came after a series of fiery speeches in the meeting where Chairman Chuck Grassley defended the nomination but multiple Democrats slammed the controversial nominee using Patel’s own words and his past colleagues’ criticisms against him.

Grassley (R-Iowa) argued Patel should be confirmed because the FBI has been ‘infected with political bias’ and ‘weaponized,’ and he said Patel exposed it. The senator claimed the FBI is ‘cleaning house’ under Trump because of it.

Grassley vehemently rejected Democrats’ criticism of Patel including that he has an ‘enemies list,’ has criticized law enforcement on January 6 and that he mismanaged hostage negotiations in a previous role.

But Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that Patel has neither the experience or temperament to lead the bureau.

Durbin noted he voted for the past four FBI director nominees but pointed out while Republicans criticize the FBI, all of those past directors he voted for were Republicans including the most recent director both nominated and ousted by Trump, Christopher Wray.

‘We are inviting a political disaster if we put Kash Patel into this job,’ Durbin said as he blasted the nominee for his past criticism of the agency and law enforcement, attacks on lawmakers and promotion of conspiracy theories.

Durbin also blasted the purge of FBI officials already since Trump retook office.
It comes as Durbin this week said he had information from credible whistleblowers that Patel was directing the firing of senior officials at the FBI even before being confirmed.

Durbin said if the information were true, the nominee for FBI director perjured himself during his confirmation hearing when he said he was not aware of discussions or plans to fire FBI officials involved in the Trump investigations in response to a question.

The ranking member has called for the Justice Department Inspector General to investigate.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) slammed accusations of weaponization against the FBI, saying that Trump was investigated for crimes because ‘Trump was doing crimes.’ He pointed out that where cases were allowed to go to judgment, Trump was convicted.

The senator also noted that before Patel, he never had a nominee come before him in the committee who had pleaded the fifth and rattled off a series of brutal quotes from past Trump officials who said Patel was not qualified.

‘Mark my words, this Patel guy will come back to haunt you,’ Whitehouse said. ‘Every piece of evidence shows that, and it’s not Democrats’ evidence, it’s his own words, it’s his own colleagues, and it’s judges evaluating his credibility.’

Patel’s confirmation will now head before the full Senate.

President Donald Trump again praised Elon Musk and his team for going through the federal government looking for savings.

DOGE agents were spotted entering the IRS on Thursday.

President Trump’s new health chief Robert Kennedy Jr. signaled that his number one priority will be ending the childhood chronic disease epidemic.

RFK Jr. was sworn into office as Health and Human Services Secretary on Thursday afternoon at the White House, surrounded by his family, after being confirmed by the Senate.

‘For 20 years I’ve gotten up every morning on my knees and prayed that God would put me in a position where I could end the childhood chronic disease epidemic in this country,’ Kennedy said in the Oval Office, standing beside Trump.

President Trump and Indian PM Narendra Modi met in the Oval Office Thursday.

They spoke to reporters for about 20 minutes – Trump’s third of four press availabilities of the day.

The two are set to hold a traditional ‘two and two’ press conference in the East Room later today.

Trump said the two would speak about oil and gas, trade, and other issues. He once again attacked his predecessor, calling it a ‘terrible administration’ hours after calling the 2020 election rigged.

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent

President Donald Trump slammed former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Thursday after McConnell voted no on several of the president’s Cabinet picks.

‘I feel sorry for Mitch,’ Trump began.

‘He wanted to go to the end and he wanted to stay but he’s not equipped mentally. He wasn’t equipped 10 years ago mentally in my opinion, he let the Republican Party go to hell. If I didn’t come along the Republican Party wouldn’t even exist right now,’ the president continued.

Trump added that McConnell, who’s still in the Senate but ceded his leadership position this term ‘never really had it.’

McConnell was responsible for the Republicans retaining the Supreme Court seat now belonging to conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, holding it open so President Barack Obama couldn’t replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016.

The Kentucky Republican also ushered through Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination after liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died and just weeks before the 2020 election, which Democrat Joe Biden won.

Those actions alone flipped the court to its current 6-3 makeup of conservatives versus liberals.

Still, after voting no on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and earlier Thursday Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Trump showed the 82-year-old no love.

Trump said that McConnell wasn’t voting against RFK Jr. – he was voting against Trump.

When a reporter brought up that McConnell had polio as a kid – and RFK Jr. has spoken out against vaccines – Trump scoffed.

‘I have no idea if he had polio. I can tell you about him is he shouldn’t have been leader. He voted against Bobby, he votes against almost everything,’ Trump said. ‘He’s a very bitter guy.’

Republican Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski introduced legislation to formally name North America’s highest mountain Denali.

It comes after President Trump declared the mountain would be remained Mount McKinley, revering back to the name used before President Obama changed it in 2015.

Murkowski’s bill would require any reference in U.S. laws, maps, regulations and other records refer to the mountain as Denali.

‘In Alaska, it’s Denali,’ Murkowski said in a statement.

‘Once you see it in person, and take in the majesty of its size and breathe in its cold air, you can understand why the Koyukon Athabascans referred to it as “The Great One,”‘ she continued.

Murkowski argued it’s not a political issue and that Alaskans have been advocating for it to be recognized by its ‘true name’ for a long time.

Robert Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as health secretary this afternoon after the Senate voted 52 to 48 to confirm him to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

His swearing in took place in the Oval Office with Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch administering the oath as President Trump looked on.

Kennedy’s wife Cheryl Hines held the bible for his swearing in as other family were also in attendance.

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent

President Donald Trump said Thursday he was open to extending the deadline for the TikTok ban to be enforced.

‘I have 90 days from about two weeks ago. And I’m sure it can be extended but I don’t think we’ll need to,’ he told reporters in the Oval Office.

‘We have a lot of people interested in TikTok. And I hope to be able to make a deal, I think it would good. You know, people have learned this it’s very popular,’ he added, citing how he believed it positively impacted his 2024 presidential campaign.

He pushed that it would be to China’s advantage to let a U.S. buyer acquire TikTok.

‘I’m going to make it worthwhile for China to do,’ Trump pledged.

President Donald Trump signed an order to allow for new worldwide ‘reciprocal tariffs’ – with plans to target foreign trade practices on a country-by-country basis that will hit within weeks.

The new tariffs will be the most sweeping since America put in place 50 per cent tariffs on all manufacturing goods in 1890.

Those tariffs were formulated by the 25th president William McKinley, who Trump has dubbed the ‘tariff king’.

‘Tariffs are good, tariffs are great actually,’ said Trump as he signed the new order while putting them in place.

He said U.S. prices ‘could go up’ due to the tariffs, amid fears of prolonged trade disputes.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Donald Trump officially unveiled several new members of the board of trustees for the Kennedy Center.

The president replaced former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre with himself as a board member.

He also named 13 other board members of his own selection in a White House press release on Thursday.

New board members include Second Lady Usha Vance, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, her deputy Dan Scavino and Presidential Personnel Office Director Sergio Gor.

It comes after Trump vowed to shake up the ‘woke’ center for arts in downtown Washington, D.C.

Elon Musk’s son X returned to official business today, joining his famous father and two of his 10 siblings for a meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Thursday, images emerged of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO holding the hands of his son X, four, and daughter Azure, three, as they all headed into Blair House.

Trump’s pick for education secretary shared what she believes DOGE is doing at the Department of Education as the president this week called for it to be shut down immediately.

Linda McMahon appeared before the Senate HELP Committee for her confirmation hearing where she was pressed on DOGE’s activities inside the department.

She was also asked whether she believes the Education Department can be shuttered without an act of Congress.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Elon Musk met with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

The Indian leader is in Washington, D.C. for a bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump.

But he first stopped-off at the Executive Office Building for a meeting with ‘first buddy’ Musk to discuss a ‘minimum government’ approach.

Shocking foreign aid spending on drag shows and other woke DEI projects abroad has been laid bare at a congressional hearing.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee held a session titled ‘The USAID Betrayal’ examining how the government agency, and the State Department, allocated tens of billions of dollars in recent years to ‘crazy wasteful’ programs.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has recently sought to dismantle USAID after pausing all foreign aid it distributed and discovering suspicious payments.

The agency employs roughly 10,000 workers and, after Musk discovered fraud and abuse, plans have been circulated to slash the workforce from thousands to just a few hundred.

That has prompted protests around the former USAID headquarters in Washington, D.C., and outrage from Democrats who claim the agency is fundamental to American ‘soft power’ overseas.

Kicking off the hearing chairman Brian Mast (R-Fla.), played a video highlighting how U.S. taxpayer money went to fund a drag show workshop for Venezuelan migrants in Ecuador, what he called a clear example of how taxpayer funds had been wasted.

‘We are going to show to the American people exactly what they were doing, the videos, the documents, the everything, they are going to see it,’ Mast said. ‘Like $25,000 for a drag show seminar for Venezuelan migrants in Ecuador.’

Then, Mast played a clip showing a drag instructor named Gladys declaring that the shows are ‘a political tool’ and ‘a way of protesting.’

President Trump’s pick to lead the embattled Educuation Department is before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee where she’s being grilled about her qualifications for the job and the administration’s efforts to close the department.

Linda McMahon previously lead the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, but Democrats have raised questions about the businesswoman’s lack of experience in education.

The hearing has already been disrupted by protests with several people being removed from the room including one woman who called for the U.S. to save public schools.

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill:

The Senate confirmed Brooke Rollins to be the Secretary of Agriculture with bipartisan support making her the second Trump nominee to be confirmed today.

Rollins was confirmed 72 to 28 with 19 Democrats crossing the aisle to vote for the Trump nominee.

She previously served in the first Trump administration in the Office of American Innovation and then as a top domestic policy adviser.

Rollins went on to become president and CEO of the pro-Trump America First Policy Institute.

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter on Capitol Hill:

Democratic Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota announced she willl not seek reelection in 2026.

Smith has served in the Senate since 2018 after being appointed to fill the seat vacated by Al Franken before she won a special election later that year.

She was then elected to a full term in 2020.

Smith said she was ready to spend more time with her family.

‘This decision is not political, it is entirely personal,’ she said.

Smith said it’s not lost on her that the country is in need of ‘strong progressive leadership right now, maybe more than ever.’

She said she will work as hard as she can in the nearly two full years left in her Senate term and can focus entirely on the job since she’s not running.

Smith is the second Democratic senator to announce she will not seek reelection next year. Senator Gary Peters of Michigan also said he would not run for another term.

Robert Kennedy Jr. was confirmed by the Senate to lead the Department of Health and Human Services despite liberal outcry over his qualifications and past anti-vaccine comments.

It came after a blistering confirmation process that even left some Republicans wary – but with Donald Trump’s backing he got enough votes to be confirmed 52-48.

Longtime Trump foe Sen. Mitch McConnell, 82, was the only Republican to vote against RFK Jr. He also voted ‘no’ on Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence and Pete Hegseth for Pentagon chief.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Donald Trump is demanding Elon Musk recover millions the federal government paid to Reuters for a mysterious ‘social dception’ progam.

The years-old contract was discovered by Musk’s DOGE and reveals the Department of Defense awarded Thomas Reuters Special Services, LLC (TRSS) a contract worth approximately $9.15 million.

The contract’s listed purchase order is for ‘Active Social Engineering Defense (ASED) Large Scale Social Deception (LSD).’

The owner of an incubator and investing consulting firm claims the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) says the contract was for cyber defense.

Thomson Reuters Corporation is the company under which the government relations services company TRSS falls. But it is also the parent corporation for the news agency Reuters.

The connection to the media company is likely what led to the outrage from Musk and Trump over the multi-million-dollar contract.

The buyout was just one of many approaches Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have taken to dismantle bloated bureaucracies and slash a civilian workforce of 2.3 million.

Officials have been told that some agencies can see up to 70% of their staff cut.

The deferred buyout program promised employees their salaries and benefits until October if they leave immediately.

A union which represents hundreds of thousands of federal workers sued last week to stop the deal. But a Massachusetts judge ruled the unions lack standing to challenge the directive.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote Thursday to move Kash Patel’s nomination to be FBI Director out of committee.

While Democrats are vehemently against Patel leading the FBI, there is little they can do as the minority party to avoid his confirmation moving foward. They fear Patel has a list of ‘enemies’ that will be targeted once he’s in the federal government’s highest law enforcement official position.

Once out of committee, President Donald Trump’s nomination of Patel will move to the floor for a full Senate vote on his confirmation.

The Judiciary Committee will convene at 9:00 a.m. for the vote to advance Patel’s nomination.

The United States Justice Department sued New York, its governor Kathy Hochul and other state leaders on Wednesday as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

Newly sworn-in Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the lawsuit at her first press conference at the Justice Department.

Bondi said they were also suing New York Attorney General Letitia James and Mark Schroeder, the current commissioner for the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

A federal judge on Wednesday lifted the temporary freeze on President Trump’s ‘buyout’ offer to federal workers as the administration looks to shrink the workforce.

A union which represents hundreds of thousands of federal workers and others sued last week to stop the deferred buyout offer’s February 6 deadline.

But Massachusetts District Judge George O’Toole ruled the unions lack standing to challenge the directive and are not directly impacted by it.

O’Toole, a President Clinton appointee, lifted the temporary restraining order on Tuesday.

‘Aggrieved employees can bring claims through the administrative process,’ he also wrote.