The Senate voted 51-49 to confirm Patel with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joining a unified Democratic Senate caucus in voting against his nomination, ABC News, NBC News and Politico reported.

“If you want to defend our constitutional rights, confirm Kash Patel,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming said on the Senate floor Thursday morning.

“If you want justice and accountability, confirm Kash Patel,” Barrasso added. “If you want to keep our communities safe, confirm Kash Patel.”

He called Patel a “man of integrity and fidelity to the rule of law.”

President Donald Trump nominated Patel to replace former FBI Director Christopher Wray, who Trump nominated for a 10-year term during his first term as president.

Trump and other Republicans accused Wray of politicizing the FBI and blamed him for the raiding the president’s Mar-a-Lago home and investigating parents who accused schools of indoctrinating youth.

Democrats adamantly opposed Patel’s nomination over concerns over politically motivated firings at the FBI, conspiracy theories touted by Patel and an enemies list of dozens of people Patel published in a memoir, but Republicans, who have so far advanced Trump’s other nominees, control the chamber.

Murkowski cited recent politicization of the FBI as her reason for opposing Patel’s nomination.

“My reservations with Mr. Patel stem from his own prior political activities and how they may influence his leadership,” Murkowski said Thursday in a post on X.

“The FBI must be trusted as the federal agency that roots out crime and corruption, not focused on settling political scores,” she said.

“I have been disappointed that when he had the opportunity to push back on the administration’s decision to force the FBI to provide a list of agents involved in the January 6 investigations and prosecutions he failed to do so.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Patel’s nomination last week in a 12-10 vote along party lines.

Patel disagreed with Trump on the Jan. 6 pardons, saying he rejected violence against law enforcement and didn’t support pardons “of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement.”

Patel takes over the FBI that is experiencing incredible turmoil in which Patel is accused of participating in purges of at least eight top FBI officials even as his own nomination at the FBI was pending.

He will serve a 10-year term but could be subject to removal by the president.

Patel’s predecessor Christopher Wray, announced his resignation in December ahead of Trump’s inauguration.