Senator challenges Kash Patel to take test for problem drinking at fiery hearing on Capitol Hill [View all]

Source: The Independent

Tuesday 12 May 2026 17:38 EDT


A Democratic senator challenged Kash Patel to take a test designed to identify problem drinking behavior on Tuesday amid angry exchanges at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The FBI director’s visit to Capitol Hill was similar to many past showdowns between members of Donald Trump’s Cabinet and various congressional committees, with Patel disparaging the credibility of media reports about his personal life and management of the bureau, and slinging insults at his critics.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland told the FBI director that he did “not care” about what Patel does in his personal life save for when it affects his ability to do his job — then immediately launched into questions about reports in The Atlantic and other publications detailing concerns of senior FBI officials about Patel’s alleged drinking.

Calling the reports categorically false, the FBI director began shouting over Van Hollen and was at one point challenged by the senator to take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) test to verify that his drinking habits did not rise to the level of problematic. "I'll take any test you're willing to take,” responded Patel. Van Hollen agreed, saying: “I will take it.”

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/van-hollen-patel-fbi-alcohol-b2975348.html