WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., are urging newly confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel to fill 1,000 open FBI slots at Redstone Arsenal. 

Britt and Tuberville wasted no time making their request to Patel, who was confirmed Thursday afternoon. The Senate vote was 51-49. Republican Sens. Susan Collins, R-ME, and Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, joined Democrats to vote no on his confirmation. 

Alabama’s senators sent a letter to Patel Thursday asking him to fill 1,000 of about 4,000 open slots at the 38,000-acre campus in Huntsville. More than 2,000 people currently work at the FBI facilities at Redstone. 

“As threats to our nation become more sophisticated, FBI-Redstone Arsenal’s operations will need to continue growing,” Britt and Tuberville wrote. 

The senators highlighted the FBI’s North Campus at Redstone as ready to support the openings with “state-of-the-art training to address cyber threats, emerging technologies, and the Field Offices’ investigative efforts.” 

Britt and Tuberville also mentioned the South Campus, which is under construction, as a place that will allow the FBI’s presence to grow. 

“This will send a message to our adversaries that the FBI’s leadership is back to prioritizing the pressing threats to our homeland,” the senators wrote. 

Britt and Tuberville have shown strong support for Patel who will now lead the law enforcement agency. 

“At the helm of the FBI, Director Patel will return the agency’s focus to protecting the American people from terrorists, hostile foreign actors, and violent criminals,” Britt said in a statement. 

Tuberville congratulated Patel in a post on X, saying he will “clean up the FBI and ensure our government works for the PEOPLE again.” 

Patel previously worked at the Department of Justice and in other national security roles. He is a loyal Trump ally. He also had what critics call an ‘enemies list’ of now former government officials to target in his 2023 book. Patel called that list a “mischaracterization” during his confirmation hearing.

Britt applauded the FBI’s work at Redstone Arsenal during Patel’s confirmation hearing in the Judiciary Committee last month. Patel committed to visiting the campus and filling the open slots. 

“And this is a great example, real quick, of the FBI’s capabilities and infrastructure systems around the country that already exist to the tune of billions,” Patel said. “And not only is it, I believe, a 38,000-acre sprawling campus  (…) but 4,000 seats still remain open. So, let’s go to work. I’ll come to Alabama. Let’s fill those seats.”

Patel is set to serve a 10-year term. Former FBI Director Christopher Wray stepped down before Trump returned to office after he served in the role for seven years.