WASHINGTON – Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and FBI Director Kash Patel were sworn in Friday after confirmation from their respective Senate.
Confirmed by 51-45 votes, Lutnick was sworn in his oval office by Vice President JD Vance, as Trump sees.
“We're going to get rid of so many waste, fraud and abuse. We're not going to hurt anyone, but we're going to get rid of it,” Rutnick said. “And we're going to grow in a way that we've never seen this economy before.”
Lutnick said his goal is for the administration to balance the budget because Trump understands global business, calling him “the greatest businessman in the United States.”
“I can't be more proud of my great friend and serving the great president of America. Donald J. Trump,” Lutnick said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed elsewhere at Patel just after Ratnick took his oath.
Patel said that the American Dream was alive and often after he was sworn in.
“I live an American dream. Anyone who thinks that American dreams are dead should just look here,” he said. “You're talking to a first-generation Indian child trying to lead a law enforcement community in the largest country on God's Green Earth. That doesn't happen anywhere else.”
He also promised accountability under the FBI.
“I promise you the following: I am accountable within and outside the FBI. I will do that through strict constitutional oversight starting this weekend,” he said.
Trump praised Patel, speaking with reporters before he was sworn in, pointing out what affinity agents have for him.
“One of the reasons I loved Kash and wanted to put him in is because of the respect my agents had for him,” he said. “I think he'll be the best he's ever been in that position, but he turns out to be very easy to get approved.”
Patel was confirmed with a vote of 51-49.
