On Thursday, the United States Senate narrowly confirmed Kash Patel to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Patel is a loyalist to President Donald Trump who has frequently expressed a desire to use the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI to target the commander-in-chief’s political opponents.

Every Democratic and independent senator — plus two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — voted against Patel. In a statement before the vote, Collins said she couldn’t support Patel’s nomination because he wasn’t an “apolitical” choice to lead the agency.

“Mr. Patel’s recent political profile undermines his ability to serve,” Collins said.

Despite bipartisan opposition against him, the remaining 51 Republican senators backed Patel to lead the FBI, thereby confirming him.

Patel has previously worked as a DOJ attorney, a congressional staffer, chief of staff for the Department of Defense, and as a counterterrorism adviser within the National Security Council during Trump’s first term. He has frequently promulgated conspiracy theories, including those falsely alleging that a “deep state” is working against Trump.

Following his confirmation vote, Patel wrote on social media that he would use his position to go after “those who seek to harm Americans” and to pursue an agenda that he described as “America always.”

“We will hunt you down in every corner of this planet,” he said, directing........

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