Top GOP senators on Sunday criticized recent law enforcement failures by the FBI and other groups and called on President-elect Trump’s administration to enact reforms.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Americans have lost confidence in the FBI. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., also told Fox News Sunday that there must be “consequences” for the law enforcement failures that enabled incidents like last week’s terrorist attack in New Orleans.
“The FBI is an agency that I think needs reform, and it needs a good makeover, so to speak, and probably a good housecleaning in terms of the American people’s perception of it and of this institutions that the FBI The American people must have confidence in,” Thune said on Sunday.
He added that Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, “understands the mission.”
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune says the FBI needs reforms. (Reuters)
Meanwhile, Cassidy responded to news that New Orleans police had access to 48 barriers that could have prevented last week’s deadly truck attack. The permanent barriers block vehicular access to Bourbon Street were replaced at the time of the attack, but authorities in the city could have installed archer barriers that could stop a 5,500-pound vehicle traveling 60 miles per hour.
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‘There has to be leadership at the top. And if leadership fails, as you describe, then there absolutely must be consequences. Point. End of story,” Cassidy said.
“Now I think we’re getting some sort of complete overview of everything, from top to bottom. And if that’s the way things get completely out of hand, she needs to be replaced,” he added, referring to Police Commissioner Anne van New Orleans. Kirkpatrick.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., is calling for a review of law enforcement decisions surrounding the truck attack in New Orleans. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Thune and Cassidy’s statements come days later Trump’s allies blasted the FBI for initially characterizing the truck attack as not terror-related, before the nation’s top federal law enforcement agency backtracked and launched a terrorism investigation allegedly linked to ISIS.
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“The FBI has a mission that cannot be allowed to fail. There is no room for mistakes. If they fail, Americans die. It is imperative that Kash Patel be confirmed as soon as possible,” a source close to Trump told Fox News Digital on Thursday morning.
Military personnel walk down Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Thursday, January 2, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
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Patel is one of several new Trump Cabinet nominees who will need to be confirmed by the Senate after Trump is inaugurated later this month.
Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.
