During Jan. 15 confirmation hearings for Pam Bondi, Trump's nominee for attorney general who oversees the FBI as part of the Justice Department, Democratic senators pressed Bondi on whether Patel was a good choice to run the agency, pointing to Patel's previous comments calling for downsizing the intelligence community.

Kash Patel, President Trump's nominee to serve as FBI director, is set to appear Thursday on Capitol Hill for a high-stakes confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee amid calls from Republicans for massive reforms in FBI leadership and concerns from Democrats about his fitness to lead the nation's top law enforcement agency.