Top GOP senators criticized recent law enforcement failures by the FBI and other groups on Sunday, calling on President Trump's administration to make changes.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune he told NBC's “Meet the Press” that Americans are losing confidence in the FBI. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., also told “Fox News Sunday” that there needs to be “consequences” for the failure of the law to allow events like last week's terrorist attack in New Orleans.
“The FBI is an agency that I think needs reform, and it needs a good reformation, so to speak, and maybe a good amount of house cleaning when it comes to the perception that the American people have of the agency. This is what the American people need to trust and believe in,” Thune said Sunday.
He also said 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 reports that New Orleans police had 48 stops that could have prevented a deadly truck attack last week. Permanent barriers preventing vehicle access to Bourbon Street they were being replaced at the time of the attack, but city officials could have installed bullet barriers designed to stop a 5,500-pound vehicle traveling at 60 miles per hour.
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“There has to be leadership at the top. And if the leadership has failed, as you describe it, then there certainly have to be consequences. Period. End of story,” Cassidy said.
“Right now, I think we're going to have kind of a full review of everything from top to bottom. And if that's the way it ends up being completely shaken, he should be taken place,” he added, referring to New Orleans Police Chief Anne. Kirkpatrick.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., is calling for a review of law enforcement decisions regarding the New Orleans truck attack. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Thune and Cassidy's statements come days later Trump's allies impressed the FBI for its initial characterization of the truck attack as unrelated to terrorism, before the country's top law enforcement agency backtracked and launched a terror investigation allegedly linked to ISIS.
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“The FBI has an unfailing mission. There is no room for error. When they fail, Americans die. It is imperative that Kash Patel be confirmed ASAP,” a source close to Trump told Fox News Digital on Thursday in the morning.
Military personnel walk down Bourbon Street on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
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Patel is one of several incoming Trump cabinet nominees who will need to receive Senate confirmation after Trump is inaugurated later this month.
Fox News' Emma Colton contributed to this report.