FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before Senate panel

Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, gaveled in the hearing shortly after 9 a.m., and touted the FBI’s track record under Patel’s leadership in the face of “many challenges, both internal and external.”

“It’s not an easy task, managing both internal and external forces while at the same time, repairing the damage done by your predecessors,” Grassley said. “You’ll hear Democrats criticizing you today for dreamed up failures. They’re going to criticize you for firing many personnel and supposedly weakening the agency. But the numbers on crime show that you’ve gotten the job done.”

Grassley cited data provided to the committee that he said showed criminal arrests were up 80% in the last 18 months, while violent crime arrests were up 90% and gang and criminal enterprise arrests were up 30%. He also touted work to ensure safety for kids, saying the FBI has helped to locate and identify over 11,000 children in the last 18 months who were the victims of crime. Grassley said the FBI has also been involved in the arrest of over 5,000 child predators and human traffickers. 

“These data points show solid work by the men and women of the FBI under your leadership,” Grassley said. 

Grassley also encouraged Patel to “foster an environment where true and legitimate whistleblowers are rewarded and not punished for blowing the whistle.”

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, criticized Patel’s handling of the FBI ahead of the hearing, pledging that Democrats will hold him accountable.

“Today, we find ourselves in a position where the FBI is expending immense resources to protect President Trump and deliver retribution to his enemies — but is diverting resources away from protecting the safety, security, and rights of ordinary Americans and their families,” Durbin said in a statement. “During the Judiciary Committee’s oversight hearing, Senate Democrats will hold Director Patel accountable for his failed leadership.”

At the hearing, Democrats are expected to question Patel about a range of recent controversies at the FBI — including the departures of hundreds of staff from the bureau, the Justice Department’s investigations into President Trump’s political foes, the administration’s immigration policies, the Epstein files and Patel’s own use of FBI resources.

The FBI announced last month that violent crime in the U.S. dropped in 2025 at the fastest rate on record, with the nation’s murder rate falling 18.1% to a decades-long low.

The Trump administration has touted those figures, linking them to the administration’s hardline strategy on crime. In an event on Long Island to announce the results of the FBI’s crime report last month, President Trump called them the “best numbers anybody’s ever seen on crime.”

Some experts note that crime rates are on a multi-year slide since spiking during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the reasons for the current decline are tough to pin down — especially since they have appeared in a range of cities with different political leadership and different approaches to law enforcement.

During his time at the FBI’s helm, Patel has emphasized tackling violent crime and assisting with the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. The agency has traditionally had a broad remit, including violent and organized crime as well as national security and white-collar investigations.

The FBI has lost hundreds of employees through firings, retirements and resignations since the start of the Trump administration. Amid those departures, the FBI has adjusted some of the standards it uses when it conducts background checks on would-be federal agents and other bureau personnel.

Last month, CBS News reported the bureau has shifted hiring standards for job applicants who have in some cases admitted to hiring sex workers or stolen from an employer, as well as instances of animal cruelty and bestiality prior to the applicant turning 18. An FBI spokesperson told CBS News the changes are limited to a narrow set of circumstances.

The bureau has also relaxed its college degree requirements for certain agents with prior law enforcement experience.

The decisions by Patel and top FBI leadership follow the departure of over 1,100 FBI special agents in 2025 alone, according to Justice Connection, a nonprofit advocacy group that supports former Justice Department and FBI personnel who resigned or were forced out of their roles. 

This year, the FBI has fired analysts who raised concerns about the ongoing Georgia 2020 election investigation, agents who worked in counterintelligence on cases involving Iran and staffers who worked on the since-shuttered Mar-a-Lago classified documents case against President Trump.  

Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Patel pushing for an explanation on the decision to adjust the hiring standards.

“These are not minor technical adjustments. They represent a considered decision to open the Bureau’s ranks to individuals who engaged in conduct that the FBI previously treated as disqualifying,” the Democrats wrote. “Having dangerously thinned the FBI’s experienced workforce for reasons that had nothing to do with performance, you are now asking the American people to accept, without explanation, that the resulting shortfall justifies admitting applicants with histories of employee theft, paying for sex, or bestiality.”

Patel is likely to face questions from Democrats regarding his alleged behavior as FBI director, following scrutiny over his use of an FBI jet and his presence at the Winter Olympics, along with allegations regarding his drinking. 

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the committee, wrote a letter to Patel in July seeking information, citing a “growing number” of reports alleging “misuse and mismanagement “of FBI resources. 

Durbin said that the committee’s chairman, GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, had written a private letter to Patel in May that “raised serious concerns” and requested information about the alleged spending. Durbin said Grassley had requested information about Patel’s jet use and purchase of BMWs, and whether Patel has reimbursed taxpayers for his travels.

Patel has drawn questions from congressional Democrats for more than a year for allegedly using a government plane for personal travel. He also drew attention earlier this year for flying on a Justice Department jet to Italy, where he celebrated with members of the U.S. men’s hockey team after they won gold in the Winter Olympics. The FBI has defended Patel, saying FBI directors are required to travel on government aircraft for security reasons and calling his flight to Italy a work-related trip.

Meanwhile, Patel filed a defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic in April for a story about his alleged frequent drinking and absences, saying it included “false and obviously fabricated” claims. The magazine’s story included allegations that Patel often drinks to excess, and that his “irregular presence at FBI headquarters and in field offices” has delayed “time-sensitive decisions” that require the director’s input.