Cruz praises Patel as 'very strong nominee'

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) praised Kash Patel, President-elect Trump’s nomination to lead the FBI, as a "very strong nominee," noting that it is "no secret” that the current director, Christopher Wray, will resign or be fired. 

"I think Kash Patel is a very strong nominee," he told Major Garrett on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. "I think the entire slate of Cabinet nominees President Trump has put forward is very strong."

Cruz said he believes the Senate will confirm each of the nominees, including Patel, noting his "serious professional" background.

"You look at his background, he has a serious professional background," he said. "He was a prosecutor; he was a public defender. He was a senior intelligence staffer on Capitol Hill. He was a senior intelligence staffer in the White House. He was the chief of staff of the Department of Defense. He was the deputy director of national intelligence."

Cruz said that people criticizing Patel are "exactly the people who are dismayed about having a real reformer come into the FBI and clean out the corrupted partisans who sadly have burrowed into senior career positions at the FBI."

"The FBI and the Department of Justice are two institutions incredibly important to the rule of law in the United States," he continued. "I revere both. And one of the most tragic consequences of four years of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is both the DOJ and the FBI have been politicized and weaponized."

Wray, the current FBI director, was nominated by Trump in 2017 to serve a 10-year term leading the FBI. However, Trump’s announcement on Saturday indicated he plans to fire Wray and replace him with Patel, a staunch and loyal ally and controversial figure.