By Hailey Gomez, Daily Caller News Foundation | February 20, 2025
Former Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty told CNN’s Van Jones Thursday on CNN that the U.S. Senate went through “advise and consent” before confirming FBI Director Kash Patel, after Jones complained about the Trump nominee.
Patel was confirmed Thursday afternoon as President Donald Trump’s new FBI director, passing with a final vote of 51-49, despite efforts by Democrat lawmakers to delay his confirmation. On “Erin Burnett OutFront,” Burnett asked Jones for his thoughts on Patel’s approval. Jones responded that, despite Trump’s ability to “put up anybody that he wants,” nominees must still go through the “advise and consent” process.
“The president of the United States can put up whatever he wants to. He can put up Kermit the Frog,” Jones said. “He can put up anybody that he wants to. But the advise and consent function of the United States Senate is in place because sometimes presidents have bad judgment. Just because you say you’re going to shake up to a place doesn’t mean that you should put in someone who literally has no qualifications at all.”
While Jones continued to say “the American system of government [is] being thrown in the garbage can by people who call themselves patriots,” he said that former President George W. Bush tried to push his personal lawyer onto the U.S. Supreme Court. Pawlenty interjected and said Patel wouldn’t have been confirmed without going through the proper process.
“What I’m more concerned about is the American system of government being thrown in the garbage can by people who call themselves patriots,” Jones added. “It is not – listen, I remember when George W. Bush tried to put his personal lawyer on the Supreme Court. The Republican Party said, ‘No, thank you, sir. We’re not going to do that.’ So that Republican Party is now gone.”
Pawlenty interjected.
“But, Van, you would – by your comments then, the senators who just confirmed him, they did go through advise and consent. You would say that those senators then somehow are derelict in their duties, didn’t do their job. They also got elected,” Pawlenty said. “They hold election certificates, and they confirmed this person. So you might not like the outcome, but they did have advise and consent, and he went through the process.”
Patel, who was former chief of staff to the secretary of Defense during Trump’s first administration, rose to prominence after becoming a critical voice in calling out the Mueller investigation into “Russian interference” during the 2016 election. Additionally, the newly-confirmed FBI director has been outspoken about the weaponization of the surveillance state, calling for a “24/7 declassification office.”
During his confirmation hearing, Democrats like Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and California Sen. Adam Schiff attempted to corner Patel over allegations related to his previous statements about Jan. 6 defendants. Patel, however, pushed back, calling out Durbin for former President Joe Biden pardoning his family members and violent criminals. Patel said Schiff’s comments were an “abject lie.”
Hailey Gomez is a general assignment reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation
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