mr. durbin: mr. president, my republican colleagues know, as i do, that president trump's cuts, freezes, gag orders and firings are devastating medical research at nih. since we get sick on a bipartisan basis, shouldn't we stand together on a bipartisan basis for medical research at nih? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. kennedy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. kennedy: thank you. all foam, no beer. this proposal, mr. president, deals with health care spending. i would remind my colleagues and friends that nih recently anonceed their intention to -- announced their intention to cap indirect costs for grants. many of our universities are spending all the taxpayer money on overhead. harvard is spending 69%. yale, 67.5% an overhead. isn't that special? johns hopkins, 63.7%. this would make bernie madoff blush. i stand by my -- i'll revise and extend my other remarks. all foam, no beer. the presiding officer: all time has expired on the amendment

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, in about two hours the senate will vote on whether to confirm kash patel to serve as director of the federal bureau of investigation for the next -- the presiding officer: order. mr. durbin: to serve as director of the federal bureau of investigation for the next ten years. ten years, mr. president. if senate republicans confirm mr. patel, i believe they will come to regret this vote. probably sooner rather than later. i, for one, am convinced that mr. patel has neither the experience, the judgment nor the temperament to lead this amazing criminal investigative agency. it appears -- it appears my senate republican colleagues are ignoring the many red flags in in patel's record. probably because they fear retribution from the president and mr. musk. let me be clear. this is not a partisan issue. during my time in the senate, i have voted for four fbi director nominations before this one. each one was clearly a republican, and i vowed for them -- voted for them nevertheless.

mr. chairman. i just wanted to respond briefly to my colleague, senator durbin. senator, i listened carefully to what you said. i do not know a single member of this body that condones what happened on january 6. and i want to be very clear. but the united states supreme court has been very clear. the united states supreme court has ruled that the united states department of justice overcharged many of the january 6 defendants using an enron-era obstruction of justice statute. i don't see anything wrong with the department of justice under new leadership finding out or trying to find out why that happened. i'm curious. i know you are a good lawyer, you should be curious, too. that's the only point i wanted to make. chair grassley: before you speak, i think i want to clarify what i have been trying to -- point i have been trying to make. so i want to run this markup the way chairman durbin did. he asked members to, quote, wait until each nominee is called. if they wish to make a comment on a specific nominee, end of quote. he also asked members not to speak on mat

mr. chairman. i just wanted to respond briefly to my colleague, senator durbin. senator, i listened carefully to what you said. i do not know a single member of this body that condones what happened on january 6. and i want to be very clear. but the united states supreme court has been very clear. the united states supreme court has ruled that the united states department of justice overcharged many of the january 6 defendants using an enron-era obstruction of justice statute. i don't see anything wrong with the department of justice under new leadership finding out or trying to find out why that happened. i'm curious. i know you are a good lawyer, you should be curious, too. that's the only point i wanted to make. chair grassley: before you speak, i think i want to clarify what i have been trying to -- point i have been trying to make. so i want to run this markup the way chairman durbin did. he asked members to, quote, wait until each nominee is called. if they wish to make a comment on a specific nominee, end of quote. he also asked members not to speak on mat

mr. durbin: next to the nomination of individuals to serve on the courts of our land, which are often lifetime appointments, this appointment of the head of the f.b.i. is one of the most serious that the senate judiciary committee should consider. we decided 50 years ago to depoliticize the f.b.i. by giving 10-year ten yours to those who headed up the f.b.i. -- tenures who headed up the f.b.i. to transcend any single administration or president. that's one of the most important things that distinguishes this nomination from others. secondly, we have an individual in kash patel who has published a book which in detail describes his view of politics in america. it is a book filled with grievances, filled with conspiracy theories, and filled with information of how he sided with the january 6 rioters against the police in this capitol complex. when he came to testify before the committee, we had some questions that he was asked and needed to answer about his conduct. we went through them, particularly on the element of the j6 choir. i know this sounds like a curious thing to spend any time on, bu

mr. durbin: mr. president, in 1938, british prime minister neville scharff enlan -- chamberlain touted the munich agreement as a way to stave off hitler's nazi germany, claiming it would, quote, secure peace in our time. a year later, hitler invaded poland and triggered world war ii, a devastating conflict that left europe in ruins and millions dead and displaced. over time, chamberlain's name became synonymous with the term appeasement, for good reason. you see, while chamberlain's goal of peace may have been honorable, he was dangerously naive about the human nature of a tyrant in germany bent on territorial ambition, pursuits that can only be thwarted with a show of strength. well, president trump's art of the deal opening negotiation with vladimir putin has the same odor of appeasement. last week, donald trump announced he's read whyy to make -- ready to make a deal with putin over ukraine, while apparently ignoring ukraine's key demands for peace in fact, trump and his fledgling defense secretar

mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr.ssley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mr. husted. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. the clerk: ms. lummis. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. mccormick. mr. merkley. mrs. moody. mr. moran. mr. moreno. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- banks, barrasso, britt, budd, cassidy, cotton, crapo, curtis, daines, grassley

mr. patel: talking about -- sen. durbin: talking about the musical work. mr. patel: it went to works in need. sen. durbin: who was in on this creation, who they chose to be the members of the choir, and you profess to know nothing about that, is that true? mr. patel: i did not have any participation in the recording. sen. durbin: it's difficult to understand how you can disperse the money and have nothing to do with the recording. let me ask you about one of the major conspiracy theories i've heard you associated with, that's whether or not the fbi planned january 6. why did you say that? mr. patel: i appreciate the opportunity to address that, that's not what i said. the entirety of the statement attributes my conclusion based on the public record that the fbi utilized sources in and around january 6 and the biden inspector general confirmed that. sen. durbin: i can't read the writing, it is so small, this looks like december 2002. what did the fbi know before generous six, you said what was the fbi doing planning january 6 for a year? why did you say that? di

mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, last week i came to the floor to talk about the chaos that has been created by the announced proposed freeze on federal funding and loans. i want to share a few stories about what i've seen and heard since i spoke on the floor last week. sharpsburg is near my hometown of springfield, illinois, and it has a water system in christian county. it's in phase three of construction of a rural water project. 18 miles of pipeline which will provide water -- excuse me. sorry. that may be a first on the senate floor. i apologize. it contains 18 miles of pipeline providing water to 50 new rural customers. the work is under way. the project is nearly complete. it will be in jeopardy if there is a freeze permitted to take effect. what does it mean? it means that these 50 homes and families will be without clean, safe, and affordable water. that is unacceptable. the freeze also means that scie scientists at universities across the state are worried about their jobs and research. children

mr. patel: i do not know. sen. durbin: what did you have to do with it? mr. patel: simply to raise funds to assist families of nonviolent offenders whose kids needed college education payments and rent being paid. sen. durbin: my understanding is that the performers were the rioters who were imprisoned. mr. patel: i did not have anything to do with the recording. sen. durbin: you are not aware of who made the recording? mr. patel: no. sen. durbin: that is interesting. did you receive any money for selling copies of that music or that recording? mr. patel: absolutely not. sen. durbin: you do have a foundation? mr. patel: i am very proud. $1.3 million we have given to families in need including active duty service members and police officers, putting kids in college and helping people rebuild their homes and communities. chair grassley: 1 and 0 llc, are you familiar to that? mr. patel: that is the llc that one of the individuals has as -- has a private business with. sen. durbin: is that part of the kash foundation? mr. patel: only that one of the members of the

mr. durbin: mr.sident, i ask unanimous consent that following detailees in the senate judiciary committee be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the 119th congress. allison kent and dorothy allay. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. i listened to my colleague and friend if wyoming, and i'm struggling to understand his point of view. he announced at one point that the republicans were in the majority in the house and senate. well, that's a fact. i know it. you do as well. and so to say that you're in the majority suggests you're in charge and also suggests that if there's going to be a budget for the united states government which we need next month, the majority party in both the house and the senate has that responsibility to come forward with a budget. that's a simple fact of life. it's a fact of political life. to blame the minority for no budget is to ignore the obvious. the majority of votes in the house and the senate belong to the republica

mr. durbin, no. the clerk: mr. cassidy, aye. the clerk: mr. sanders, no. ms. hassan, no. mr. peters, no. mr. barrasso, aye. mr. reed, no. the clerk: mr. curtis, aye. the clerk: mr. ricketts, aye. mr. thune, aye. mr. ossoff, no. the clerk: mr. hagerty, aye. the clerk: mr. van hollen, no. ms. rosen, no. mr. banks, aye. the clerk: mr. tillis, aye. ms. duckworth, no. mr. mccormick, aye. ms. cortez masto, no. the clerk: mrs. hyde-smith, aye. the clerk: ms. blunt rochester, no. ms. collins, aye. the clerk: mr. lankford, aye. mr. sheehy, aye. the clerk: mrs. murray, no. the clerk: mr. hoeven, aye. the clerk: mr. scott of south carolina, aye. . the clerk: mr. merkley, no. the clerk: mr. budd, aye. mrs. gillibrand, no. mr. moran, aye. the clerk: mr. fetterman, no. the clerk: mr. schatz, no. ms. smith, no. mr. husted, aye. ms. lummis, aye. the clerk: mrs. capito, aye. ms. cantwell, no. the clerk: mr. cramer, aye. mr. kim, no. ms. murkowski, aye. mr. coons, no. mr. kaine, no. the clerk: mr. warner, no. mr. king, no. the clerk: mr. warnock, no. the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no. the clerk: mr

mr. durbin: mr. president, two weeks, it's been two weeks with the new president. the inauguration seems so far in the distant past, it's hard to believe. what this administration has tried to do during the first two weeks is almost impossible to describe in a very short period of time. so many executive orders, so many chaengs, so -- changes, so many speeches by the president, so many threats, so many changes in the way this government is run, and many of them raising serious questions that even go to the heart of our constitution. mr. president, since president trump took office two weeks ago, he has sown chaos across the federal government. but despite his campaign promises, something has been con hispanicsly -- conspicuously absent, lowering the cost of living for americans. the economically questionable tariffs he announced on friday, 25% on canada and mexico, 10% more on china show just that. i said to my staff when they handed me a copy of the speech which was written this morning, there had been some developments during the course of the day when it comes t

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, the greatest threat to american prosperity is not food aid to kids in sudan. or a diverse workforce. the greatest threat to our country is the abuse of power by a small group of people, an unelected group of people who happen to have a billion dollars. our founding fathers created a government with checks and balances, but they didn't anticipate a united states congress now currently under republican control that would voluntarily give away its constitutional authority. that's where we find ourself. as hospitals and medical researchers in blue and red states are in chaos over the trump administration's attempt to usurp congress' power of the purse. and when senate republicans abandon another constitutional responsibility of advice and consent for cabinet officials, were presented with such things as a bizarre nomination of robert kennedy jr. to serve as secretary of health and human services. it's been my honor to know members of the kennedy family and particularly to serve

mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. the clerk: mrs. fischer. mr. p gallego. mr. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. l the clerk: mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mr. husted. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. mccormick. mr. merkley. mrs. moody. mr. moran. mr. moreno. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the presiding officer: a quorum is presen

mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mrs. gillibrand. i'm honored to be sitting here to be nominated for the next sector of the v.a. i want to think my friend kevin cramer for the kind introduction. i appreciate his work and your work as well. i thank him for that. i would like to thank president trump for his nomination and his willingness to have not on the veterans of this country. i'm privileged today and appreciate the chairman and ring them mentioning my family because i would not view without them. my wife of 36 years is with me lisa. i have my son copeland, his wife your guide my son cameron and his fiancÉe. and then on the one of the quizzes altogether and that is jordan. she is our daughter. also on the public is watching what no of the list of a didn't mention, my 86-year-old 86-year-old father who spent 31 years as a as a georgia ste trooper. bad, i'm here because of you and mom. and i love you. america's greatest nation on earth. its grace nation i believe because of many women who serve it it's a minute when that is certain

mr. durbin: i can unanimous consent to suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, last week, pam bondi was sworn in as the highest law enforcement officer in the united states of america. she is now the united states attorney general. unfortunately, as many of us feared, attorney general bondi took immediate steps to undermine the integrity of the department of justice. president trump, after bondi was confirmed, even said, quote, i know i'm supposed to say she's going to be totally impartial with respect to democrats. i'm not sure if there's a possibility of totally, unquote, president trump. on day one in office, attorney general bondsy created a so-called -- attorney general bondi created a so-called -- a task force to investigate the activities of all departments and agencies exercising criminal and civil enforcement authority over the last four years. bondi said she would, quote, investigate the investigators, and, quote, prosecute the prose prosecutors, and now she's doing exactly that. to

mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand.tinuation of the research that makes that ÃÃ >> absolutely. >> that's great news. due to one facility making the majority of our iv drugs in the u.s. is devastated by hurricane helene. hospitals and healthcare facilities across the country face iv shortages. Ãpharmaceuticals in columbia south carolina try to shore up iv support in south carolina hospitals by creating the palmetto line in the facility to make ivs for hospitals across the state. we must be doing more proactively to address the shortages and the shortage risks as well as provide and promote the production of medical products here in the u.s. of confirmed, how will you prioritize efforts to prevent and reduce drug shortages including four essential medicines. >> including? >> essential medicines. >> president trump has told me of his priority to bring essential medicines to manufacturing back to this country as a national security threat so much of it has been exported abroad particularly to china. and it's a priority for

mr. durbin: mr. president, in 1938, british prime minister neville scharff enlan -- chamberlain touted the munich agreement as a way to stave off hitler's nazi germany, claiming it would, quote, secure peace in our time. a year later, hitler invaded poland and triggered world war ii, a devastating conflict that left europe in ruins and millions dead and displaced. over time, chamberlain's name became synonymous with the term appeasement, for good reason. you see, while chamberlain's goal of peace may have been honorable, he was dangerously naive about the human nature of a tyrant in germany bent on territorial ambition, pursuits that can only be thwarted with a show of strength. well, president trump's art of the deal opening negotiation with vladimir putin has the same odor of appeasement. last week, donald trump announced he's read whyy to make -- ready to make a deal with putin over ukraine, while apparently ignoring ukraine's key demands for peace in fact, trump and his fledgling defense secretar

mr. durbin. ms. ernst. the clerk: mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mr.grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mr. husted. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. ms. klobuchar. serving america's small businesses, no stronger advocate than our president. actually our commitment if confirmed i will work tirelessly to make small business again. i want to thank my wonderful husband jeff and my wonderful friends who have joined us here today most importantly i gave all thanks and glory to god. as someone who has meant my life working in small businesses, starting them, growing them and helping them succeed, i know that small business is big business for america. they comprise 99% of small businesses, 2 out of 3 new jobs. they are the opportunity and innovation engines that drive prosperity and growth and they power the american economy as much as they power the american dream and president trump make historic strides driving s

mr. durbin. my extraordinary sister is here as well as addison's brother rick and my sister-in-law abbey and my closest friends come down to support me. my father is a professor of american history. taught me how to appreciate life. when i was 14, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer she decided when you die before then, was going to live. she pulled me class so i rushed and said, are you okay? is okay, let's go. drove to new york city we went to the opera and a late night dinner, super late and get to on time. my mother died in february of 1978 when i was 16 years old. a year end a half later, my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. he wanted to make sure i left to start college in the fall. drop me off at school and a week later therapy treatment at a local hospital and the nurse gave him the wrong dose and he died right then and there. september 12, 1979. we don't know is heartbreaking but losing both is something entirely different. like shattering. without support from extended family, w

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic whip. mr. rbin: it was nearly three years ago, mr. president, the world watched in horror as russia pursued a bloody, full-scale invasion of the sovereign nation of ukraine. i was in vilnius, lithuania, with senator chris coons, when reports first trickled out that the war was starting in europe. three years ago the russian invasion of ukraine was not a partisan issue in the united states. congressmen and senators on both sides of the aisle agreed on the basic facts -- russia was waging an unprovoked, illegal war and must be stopped at all costs. and for the past three years we have supported ukraine with the funding it needed to beat back russian aggression and defend the frontline of democracy in europe. and the ukrainian people have done just that. 46,000 ukrainian lives have been lost. 46,000 defending their nation against putin. we have joined with our nato allies and other countries around the world standing by ukraine. they've shown an extraordinary courage, a courage for the history book

mr. durbin: mr. president, do you remember where you were on september 11? most americans do. i do. it was right outside that door. i was at a meeting at 9 o'clock in the morning and as we had the meeting, we looked down the mall, we watched a television set and watching planes going into skyscrapers in new york. at first we thought it was accidents, but when the second plane hit we knew there was more. then there came a moment when somebody said, look down the mall and we looked down the mall and saw black smoke billowing across the mall here in washington from the pentagon because a plane crashed into the pentagon and there was this moment where people didn't know which way to turn, where to get answers, what was going on. as someone came raising into the room, they said, evacuate the capitol building, another plane is coming to capitol. we didn't know which way to turn. tourists were coming up to me because i had a suit and tie on, and said, where are we supposed to go. i told them where the metro stations were and pointed them in several directions. it's a day most of us won't f

mr. durbin: mr. president, it's not unusual in this job of ours, in the united states senate, to run into a reporter in the h hallway. it happens all the time. they're trying to write a story, and they want to ask you a question or two to get a quote possibly for their story. today, i came out of one of our hearing rooms, and on the committee on agriculture, and one of the more prominent reporters for one of the cable news networks said to me, can you give me a reaction to the suggestion by president trump yesterday that somehow or another the united states of america is going to take over control of the gaza strip and develop it? well, i'd read that in the morning papers, i was aware of that assertion, and all i could say to him was, if you follow his suggestions, that canada become the 51st state, that we take over the panama canal, if necessary by force, that somehow or another we come into ownership of greenland, the notion of developing hotels on the ocean in the gaza strip is just one of the tr

mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mr. husted. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. mccormick. mr. merkley. mrs. moody. mr. moran. mr. moreno. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. the last thing they need is another massive tax hike on top of that inflation. what happens if the tax cuts expire . if we do not extend these tax policies americans will be at with an over $4 tr

mr. durbin: president trump announced he'd like to make a deal with ukraine and apparently ignoring theirey demands for peace. trump and his fledgling defense secretary publicly gave away huge concessions at the start, signaling they would not insist on a return to ukraine's sovereign 2014 borders or future nato membership. it's also not clear from the administration's bewildering munich conference remarks if president trump intends to include ukraine or our european am lies in the negotiations for the future of ukraine. it's no wonder that in the united kingdom where they remember chamberlain's folly all too well, donald trump's early pronouncements were land blasted by misreading leaders across the political spectrum. let me share some of the things that have been said by our ally, united kingdom, about trump's opening bid to end the war in ukraine. one member of parliament lamented the west now, quote, might be facing the worst betrayal of a european ally since poland since 1945. another said surely in europe no matter what we give president putin, he'll always want more. one final mem

durbin: after meeting with mr. patel and reviewing his record, questioning him at the hearing, i'm convinced he's neither of the experience, the judgment nor the temperament to lead the f.b.i. my senate republican colleagues are willfully ignoring myriad red flags about mr. patel. especially his recurring instinct to threaten retribution against his perceived enemies. this is an extremely dangerous flaw for someone who seeks to lead the nation's most powerful domestic investigative agency for the next 10 years. what is this all about? what is patel's mission? it's pretty clear the first item on his mission is to revise history, to somehow blame the police for january 6, to call the national guard cowards in uniform, quote-unquote. cowards in uniform. before his nomination, mr. patel was an endless source of outrageous conspiracy theories that benefited president trump, claiming that january 6 was, quote, never an insurrection, quote-unquote, and that the f.b.i. was, quote, planning january 6 for a year, planning ja

mr. durbin: thank you. i want to thank my colleague from arizona, originally from chicago, for taking the time to come this morning to the floor of the senate. let me also thank the presiding officer and the staff who have weathered this experience as we consider the nomination of russell vought for the office of management and budget. i know it's personal and demanding sacrifice an their part and i thank them for being here. why are we doing this? we're hoping to call atension to this nomination -- attention to this nomination. most people in america, if asked, would not be able to identify the initials omb, office of management and budget. and if they could identify it as a federal agency, they would be hard-pressed to describe what it does. i've been in politics in congressional government for a number of years. i have an insight into what the agency can do, and i want to tell you that the head of the omb, though not a very well-known figure across america, has more power than almost anyone in the presid

mr. ranking member durbin i believe you are up first. >> let's go ahead and hear from the witnesses.hen you have an opening statement for the committee please? >> good morning chairman grassley, ranking member durbin and the esteemed members of this committee i am the president cofounder of victims of illicit drugs, void cochair project fentanyl now but join me today at mr. steve a retired police officer and e secretary-treasurr of void as well as ms. andrea thomas chair and ms. gretchen peters ceo of alliance to capture crimes online and other family members who have endured the profound loss of the loss of fentanyl. void a california-based nonprofit organizations established to educate, advocate raise public awareness about the devastating dangers of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic analogues. today, a symbol for you to give voice to the countless lives lost. including my own son daniel. my son was on habitual drug use or by any sense of the word nor had he been diagnosed with substance abuse disorder. he was diagnosed with adhd and depression. on april 1, 2020 the very beginni

durbin:. mr. puerta? >> pass january 20 203i believe, accepted the lawsuit -- i'm sorry, 2024. not on the basis of free speech but on the basis of product design. that went on to the appellate court in california and the appellate court favored -- ruled in our favor for the lawsuit to go forward. so right now we are in discovery. no other lawsuit against any major social media company has gotten as far as ours. sen. durbin: i wish you well. we are dealing with fentanyl and the deadly aspects of that drug we are also dealing with sexual exportation, particularly of children and other members have shown real leadership here senator blackburn on the republican side, senator blumenthal on the democratic side especially. we all have bills. we can do this. hold us responsible. don't just come and leave and think nothing is going to happen. it is our job to make sure it does happen and do the right thing for you and your families. thank you very much. chair grassley: i thank senator durbin for bringing up our conversation we had yesterday on the floor of the united states senate. and

i think that's interesting, because there also rallies by indivisible saying durbin, got louder and angrier and stop being mr. nice guy. that is literally what the signs are saying. there is a range of emotions here. i would say from where i am sitting, the pace and velocity of the change that is taking place is overwhelming a lot of people. so damn much has happened, and we are not even five weeks out at this point, and think what he's done. i will throw out a few words and you associate as you wish -- greenland, panama canal, 51st state. the list goes on and on. what i'm saying to you is the grandiosity of this man cannot be overstated, and the pace of change cannot be overstated. and to say to the average person, what am i supposed to do about this, there are lots of things you can do. you can carry a sign, you can speak to your colleagues, you can prepare for the next election. nothing is going to stop it from happening now. is going to happen. it will take something like court review to have any kind of serious effort to slow him down. heidi: let's turn to court review. you and i had a nice conversation

durbin, who is the top democrat on the judiciary committee here. watch this. >> i look forward to working with mrl to restore the integrity of the fbi and get it focused on its critical mission. >> i'm convinced he has neither the experience, the judgment nor the temperament to lead the fbi. my senate republican colleagues are willing, willfully ignoring myriad red flags about mr. patel, especially his recurring instinct to threaten retribution against his perceived enemies. >> now, those comments from durbin came this morning, where top democrats on the judiciary committee held another press conference outside of the fbi building, trying in their very best powers to slow this nomination down. there's not much they can do. republicans have a four seat majority with jd vance able to break a tie in the senate. so by all means, kash patel has the votes. that doesn't mean the democrats didn't try to delay his confirmation process again, though. that's really all they can do. >> yeah. okay. julie sorkin, thank you so much from capitol hill. joining me right now we have democratic congresswoman madelei

whitehouse, sheldon whitehouse of rhode island, and senator dick durbin in the confirmation process and publicly have raised concerns that mrpriate firings of some of the most senior fbi director, fbi staff, leadership, staff in washington, and that there's already a purge underway of fbi directors who were simply following directions and carrying out their appropriate investigatory role in investigating those who stormed the capitol and assaulted police officers on january 6th. >> let's move to your position on appropriations, which oversees the allocation of funds to government agencies. this week, 14 states sued the trump administration, arguing giving elon musk's department of government accountability unchecked authority is constitutional, essentially saying it stripped power from appropriations and congress. do those states have a case, sir? trump says he's just trying to make the government run more efficiently and reduce fraud, which most would support. so where do you stand and how much fraud has actually been found? >> well, when a new president comes in and there's a new majority in the senate, it's absolutely ap

so unless senator durbin has anything to say, we will be at ease until senator s>> senator . >> mr. chairman, thank you for keeping the committee in session. to give me an opportunity to weigh in on this nomination. before i address mr. patel, i do want to address the continuing narrative about the weaponization of the doj, the suppose it weaponization of the doj over the last four years, because to me it represents the most vigorous reinvention of history. the question was asked by some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, why is it that donald trump was the only president to be indicted not once, not twice, but four times? and isn't this by definition a double standard, a treating of this president differently because no other president in history has been indicted so many times? while the one doesn't fall from the other. yes, this president was indicted more than any other president in history. because this president committed more crimes than any other president in history. and let's look at what he was indicted for. because we can't just talk about this in the abstr

mr. hartman. there is so much going on right now. senator durbin. >> thank you for accommodating me. i just want to tell you my friend kenny hartman used to be president of the -- he's now the president of the national corn growers association. thank you for being here today. >> very good. mr. duvall, you are recognized. >> thank you, senator. chairman boozman, ranking member klobuchar, thank you for that introduction. i'm focused on jesus today. i also want to thank rob. we have become good friends over the years and have worked together constantly making sure farmers voices are being heard. i'm zippy duvall, president of the american farm bureau, and my son and i still do farm in georgia. i spent 30 years dairying. i never thought i would find a job more difficult but i might have found it. farm families across the country are grateful for you recognizing the incredible hard times across the agricultural economy. emergency aid for communities for disaster that was destroyed by natural disasters and you incorporated that in your c.r. in december. despite the assistance, the farmers

mr. patel an alarming willingness to do the baiting of a vengeful white house as you heard from my colleagues senator durbin, whistleblowers are alleging that he has already helped orchestrate the purge of the most senior leadership of the f.b.i. as well as those agents who were simply doing their job as assigned to them, to carry out january 6 investigations. this purge is only the start of whey fear is about to come. the f.b.i. has demanded that -- excuse me, the administration, has demanded that the f.b.i. turn over a list of its newest recruits and employees, has pushed out ahead. the washington field office and other type leadership and is giving roles to folks who lack the relevant professional experience. the f.b.i. needs independents, but mr. patel believes the f.b.i. works for the white house. i asked that same question of several other recent nominees and they gave the correct answer, that federal law enforcement whether the department of justice or the f.b.i. works for the constitution and the american people. the f.b.i. doesn't work for the white house. it works for all of us. attorney general p

durbin said outside fbi headquarters. he's the top democrat on the judiciary committee. >> we stand outside the building. mr. patel, on one. >> day. plans to. >> quote, shut down and reopen. >> the next day as a museum. >> of the deep state. that is one of many of the bizarre political statements made by the man. >> who. is asking. >> for ten years as. >> director of the fbi. >> now it is. >> up to a handful of senate. >> republicans as. >> to. >> whether they have the. >> courage to step out. >> and do. >> publicly what they have told these fbi agents they want to do, and that is vote against kash patel. and specifically, democrats need four out of the 53 republicans to vote no, to unify with them, to sink this nomination. that's a heavy lift, as we've seen many trump nominees have arrived at the senate, gotten some skepticism early on from republicans, but that tends to fade away. we can't count to four. republicans are going to vote no at this time. there may be one or there may be two. i spoke just a few minutes ago to senator john cornyn, who's on the committee, a former whip. he predicted that kash pat

mr. patel has spent his whole career fighting for righteous causes. >> patel has said he wants to make significant changes within the bureau but democrat senator dick durbinwhistleblowers say even before his confirmation patel is personally overseeing a purge at the fbi. >> given the serious nature of these allegations, i have asked the doj inspector general to investigate. >> a patel spokeswoman tells fox news once again the media is relying on anonymous sources and second hand gossip to push a false narrative. 5,000 fbi sources were ordered to fill out a survey about their work on january 6th investigations. the president of the fbi agent's association tells fox news she welcomes the opportunity to work with a director patel. but she is worried about potential firings. >> these people are not just in the d.c. area. these people are all over the country. it harms every city that we have a field office in, which is everywhere. >> mr. patel expected to be confirmed next week. though we don't have a specific date yet. bret? >> david, there is also drama inside the department of justice spilling out into the public related to new york mayor eric adams. what