On Capitol Hill Tuesday FBI director Kash Patel and Democratic lawmakers got into a heated debate over how he handled the investigation into the Charlie Kirk shooting. He was also taken to task on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files that he's frustrated lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including some of the president's staunchest allies.

Democrats who went into Tuesday's hearing skeptical did not receive many answers.

Patel engaged in repeated and often acrimonious exchanges with Democratic committee members in which he accused lawmakers of prioritizing soundbites.

You are the biggest fraud to ever sit in the United States Senate, you are a disgrace to this institution and you are an utter coward, Patel told Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA).

You can make an internet troll the FBI director, but he will always be an internet troll, Schiff replied.

RELATED STORY | Police: Man falsely claimed he shot Charlie Kirk to distract from real gunman

Multiple Democratic senators ultimately left the hearing.

Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) told Scripps News he does not have confidence in Patel to lead the FBI, which recently responded to the shooting death of Charlie Kirk.

"[Patel] took a lot more credit, I think, and he blew it when he said we had our person in custody and it turned out he was wrong. That was 27 hours ahead of time."

Scripps News' Nathaniel Reed: Do you have faith in Mr. Patel?

"Well, I don't," Sen. Welch said. "I mean, when you take out the really respected people who've served, say, 18,20 years they've done an outstanding job and you fired them for political reasons. No. I'm appalled by that."

But some Republicans said before the hearing that they felt Patel had done a good job leading the FBI.

"I see no reason for the armchair quarterbacks to be criticizing his performance. I think it's been commendable," said Sen. John Cornyn, (R-TX). "It took roughly 33 hours to arrest Charlie Kirk's killer. There's always a certain fog that goes on with emergency situations like this."

Patel is expected back before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

Senate Republicans said Tuesday they are ready to change chamber rules to speed up approval of President Donald Trumps nominees after Democrats blocked nearly all of them.

Republicans want to allow the Senate to confirm multiple nominees for different posts at the same time, rather than holding separate votes for each. GOP leaders argue the change would relieve pressure from the White House and counter what they call obstruction by Democrats.

The move could help confirm ambassadors, U.S. attorneys and other early-term administration appointments more quickly. Some of the stalled nominees are political allies and donors to the president.

Current Senate rules already allow for some changes in procedure, but Republicans are considering a more sweeping shift a step some call going nuclear to accelerate the process.

IN RELATED NEWS | Senate panel advances Trump allys judicial nomination despite Democratic walkout

The reason Im going to support it is that presidents do have a right to get an administration and get the people to work with them so they can implement their policy, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said. It also distracts us. We are spending so much time on the nominations that we have, you know, were not even going to get the appropriations processed and thats not a valid excuse, but at least one excuse for why were not paying more attention to spending.

The change could eventually benefit Democrats, as a future Democratic president would also be able to confirm nominees more quickly. Democrats have not yet said whether they will oppose the plan outright.

The fight over Senate procedure comes less than three weeks before a possible government shutdown. One of those weeks is a scheduled recess, giving lawmakers little time to pass a funding bill.

While Republicans control both chambers, they will likely need Democratic support to pass any funding measure. In both the Senate and the House, some Republicans traditionally vote against such bills, citing concerns over federal spending.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Trump signs a bill funding the government for 6 months, avoiding a shutdown

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pushed responsibility onto Democrats.

The Democrats are willing to work with us, Johnson said. We have our sleeves rolled up and we want to do this in good faith. We just have to think responsibly how to spend less money than we did last year. And if theyre willing to do that and its incumbent upon all of us to do it with the high national debt were open to that. But the ultimate question of whether theres going to be a government shutdown at the end of the month is going to be up to congressional Democrats and thats just the way it is.

Democrats have criticized proposed cuts to public health care and social service programs, making it unclear whether they will support any Republican funding plan.

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.