Susan Collins vows to oppose Trump FBI director nominee Kash Patel ahead of critical vote

Moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, revealed she will not back President Donald Trump’s nominee to be director of the FBI, Kash Patel. 

“The nomination of Kash Patel to serve as Director of the FBI comes to the Senate against the backdrop of recent personnel actions at the Department of Justice, including the resignations of several career federal prosecutors who felt they were being instructed to act in a manner inconsistent with their ethical obligations,” she said in a Thursday statement released just before a key procedural vote. 

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Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, will oppose Kash Patel. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“While I strongly support efforts to ensure all federal employees perform their responsibilities ethically and in accordance with the law, Mr. Patel’s recent political profile undermines his ability to serve in the apolitical role of Director of the FBI,” she added. 

Trump’s controversial FBI nominee cleared his last procedural hurdle on Thursday morning, despite losing Collins’ support. 

Key Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., are backing Patel for the role. 

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Sen. Thom Tillis, left, has gone all in on Kash Patel. (Getty Images)

Tillis, who held out on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s nomination, was one of the first to get behind Patel, helping to shepherd him through the Senate. 

Moderate Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has not said if she will vote to confirm Patel, but she did vote “yes” on the last procedural hurdle, indicating she would do so on the final vote. 

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Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted yes on cloture. (Al Drago)

Patel will have a final confirmation vote on Thursday afternoon. 

Collins also opposed Hegseth, alongside Murkowski and former Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Vice President JD Vance needed to break the tie in the Senate and confirm Hegseth. 

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Kash Patel will have a final vote on Thursday afternoon. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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With full attendance, Patel can only afford to lose three Republican votes, assuming that all Democrats will oppose him. 

Collins is notably up for re-election in 2026 in Maine. She was an exception during her last bid when she won the state alongside then-President Joe Biden, as a result of split-ticket voting.