Top GOP senators criticized recent law enforcement failures by the FBI and other groups on Sunday, calling on President-elect Trump's administration to enact reforms.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune He told NBC's “Meet the Press” that Americans have lost confidence in the FBI. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Los Angeles, also told “Fox News Sunday” that there must be “consequences” for law enforcement failures that allowed incidents like last week's terrorist attack in New Orleans to occur.
“The FBI is an agency that I think needs to be reformed, needs a good revamp, so to speak, and probably a great deal of internal cleaning when it comes to the American people’s perception of it and these institutions that the American people need to trust,” Thune said on Sunday. And trust.
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 reform. (Reuters)
Meanwhile, Cassidy responded to the news that New Orleans police had access to 48 roadblocks that could have prevented last week's deadly truck attack. Permanent barriers that prevent vehicles from accessing them Bourbon Street They had been replaced at the time of the attack, but city authorities were able to deploy shooting barriers designed to prevent a 5,500-pound vehicle from traveling at 60 mph.
“There has to be leadership at the top,” Cassidy said. “And if leadership fails, as you describe it, then there certainly has to be consequences. End of story.”
“Now, I think we're going to do kind of a full review of everything from top to bottom. And if this is exactly the way it ends up vibrating, it needs to be replaced,” he added, referring to New Orleans Police Superintendent Ann. Kirkpatrick.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Los Angeles, called for a review of law enforcement decisions surrounding the truck attack in New Orleans. (Kevin Deitch/Getty Images)
Thune and Cassidy's statements come days later Trump allies The FBI has been criticized for initially describing the truck attack as not terrorism-related, before the country's top federal law enforcement agency backed down and launched a terrorism investigation allegedly linked to ISIS.
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A source close to Trump told Fox News Digital on Thursday morning: “The FBI has a mission that can't fail. There is no room for error. When they fail, Americans die. It is imperative that Kash Patel's appointment be confirmed as quickly as possible.”
Military personnel walk down Bourbon Street on Thursday, January 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
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Patel is one of several new Trump Cabinet nominees who will need to undergo Senate confirmation after Trump's inauguration later this month.
Fox News' Emma Colton contributed to this report.
