Washington: Hindu-American Tulsi Gabbard and Indian-American Kash Patel, tapped by US President Donald Trump to be heading respectively Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), are all set to testify before Senatorial committees for the confirmation of their posts.
Soon after his electoral victory in November, Trump nominated Gabbard, 43, as his spy master-in-chief as the head of DNI.
A four-term Congresswoman, 2020 presidential candidate and NYT bestselling author, Gabbard is a veteran with three deployments to war zones in the Middle East and Africa. She recently moved from being a Democrat to a Republican member.
In October 2022, she announced she was leaving the Democrat Party, becoming an Independent. On August 26, 2024, Gabbard formally endorsed Trump for a second term and soon after began serving as co-chair of his transition team.
On October 22, 2024, she joined the Republican Party because of President-elect Trump's leadership and how he has been able to transform the Republican Party, bringing it back to the party of the people and the party of peace.
Trump also nominated Patel for the position of Director of FBI, a position which is normally filled for 10 years. Patel, 44, is the highest-ranking Indian-American nominated by President Trump in his administration. If confirmed, he would be the first-ever Indian American to lead the most powerful American investigation agency.
Patel would replace Christopher Wray. He is considered to be a loyal supporter of Trump. Initially both the nominations were said to be controversial. However, after the confirmation of Pete Hegseth as the Defence Secretary, the chances of their confirmation by the US Senate has increased.
As per the US law, all the Cabinet ranking positions and several other senior administration positions need to be confirmed by the US Senate. It starts with a confirmation hearing by their respective Senatorial committees. Patel would appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee, while Gabbard would testify before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Thursday, January 30.
