Patel and a Senator Trade Drinking Accusations at an FBI Budget Hearing — and Both Agree to Be Tested

FBI Director Kash Patel appeared before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on May 12 and clashed with Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland over reports about his conduct. Van Hollen said accounts indicated Patel had been "so drunk and hungover that your staff had to force entry into your home," citing a recent Atlantic article describing drinking and absences from duty. Patel called the allegations "a total farce" and "baseless allegations and fraudulent statements from the media," and accused Van Hollen of drinking at taxpayer expense, referring to a $7,000 bar tab and a margarita during a 2025 trip to El Salvador. Patel agreed to take the AUDIT alcohol-use screening used by active-duty military personnel; Van Hollen said he would take the same test.

The exchange placed the fitness of the FBI director in the middle of an appropriations hearing. Patel has said he is suing over the underlying reporting, and the claims about his conduct remain contested and were not independently established in the sources reviewed.

No test results had been made public, and the subcommittee took no formal action on the question.