Trump taps Kash Patel is acting ATF director

Kash Patel faced some rather significant challenges to be confirmed as the FBI Director, but he is not stopping there.

This week, it was announced that Trump was also tapping Patel to be the acting head of the ATF until Trump’s nominee can be approved.

Contentious Hearing

Patel faced significant resistance on both sides of the aisle as the nominee for the FBI Director, and it took a lot of convincing to get him approved.

Dems brought up past comments by Patel, such as his comment about targeting reporters who Patel said “lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections.” He added, “We’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminally or civilly – we’ll figure that out.”

I had been looking forward to the Patel-Schiff confrontation, but it was Schiff who came out ahead, leaving Patel bloodied, as Trump’s nominee seemed intent on not creating a dust-up with Schiff during the hearing.

When all was said and done, Patel passed through without even needing the Vance tiebreaker vote, as I had predicted. Shockingly, Senator McConnell (R-KY), who had vowed to vote “no,” flipped his vote, giving Patel a 51-49 majority.

Patel Vows to ‘Rebuild’ FBI

After having vowed to shutter the FBI as a deep-state museum, Patel took a much softer tone regarding the FBI after his confirmation.

After squeaking by, he proclaimed, "I am honored to be confirmed as the ninth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

He continued, "My mission as Director is clear: let good cops be cops - and rebuild trust in the FBI. We will rebuild an FBI the American people can be proud of.”

Trump has since appointed Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service officer and conservative host, as the Deputy Director of the FBI to work with Patel on rebuilding the agency.

One More Job

Patel garnered several headlines this week, and not all for the FBI.

First, Patel pushed back against the Musk memo for all federal workers to offer a summary of their work from the past week. Patel told agency staffers to pause their response, as the FBI was in charge of reviewing its personnel, not Musk. Second, it was announced that Patel was being tasked with leading the ATF until its director is confirmed.

Attorney General Pam Bondi also announced that she had terminated ATF’s General Counsel, Pamela Hicks. Hicks posted the news on her LinkedIn page, stating, “Earlier today, I was served official notice from the Attorney General of the United States that I was being removed from my position as the Chief Counsel of ATF and my employment with the Department of Justice terminated.”

One thing is clear… Trump learned his lesson the first time around by allowing too many swamp rats to remain in position during his presidency. He clearly is not going to make that mistake again.