Longtime Donald Trump loyalist Kash Patel was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday as the new director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), ending a weeks-long delay spearheaded by opposing Democratic lawmakers.  

Mr Patel was confirmed after a final 51-49 vote on the Senate floor, with Republican senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins joining all Democratic lawmakers in opposing the nominee’s confirmation.  

Surprisingly, Mr Patel won the support of Republican Mitch McConnell, who had opposed some of Mr Trump’s other nominees.  

The former federal prosecutor arguably faced the most intense scrutiny from lawmakers among all of Mr Trump’s picks, especially over his association with the conspiracy group QAnon and his threat to go after perceived “political enemies,” whom he refers to as the “deep state.”  

In his opposition statement to Mr Patel’s confirmation, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said the Senate is “inviting a political disaster if we put Kash Patel into this job,” a position echoed by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who said the confirmation would come back to “haunt” the Republicans.  

Meanwhile, Mr Patel maintained throughout his confirmation hearing that there would be “no politicisation” of the FBI and promised “no retributive actions,” while accusing Democrats of twisting excerpts from some of his past comments to suit their agenda.