Catherine Rampell: lowered FBI standards reward "loyalty to Donald Trump"
Catherine RampellColumnist, The Washington Post; Bulwark contributor
Catherine Rampell said the FBI's lowered hiring standards reflect prioritizing loyalty to Trump over effectiveness.
“CBS had a story about how they are having to lower the recruiting standards for the FBI... no longer automatically disqualifying if a person... has hired a prostitute, stolen from a previous employer, or even engaged in beastiality... they're no longer optimizing on who is the most effective... but rather who is willing to pledge personal loyalty to Donald Trump.”
Original video
Where this statement fits
Kash Patel defends FBI’s removal of automatic hiring disqualifiers for bestiality, prostitution, and employee theft
The FBI changed its hiring standards in 2026 to remove automatic disqualification of job applicants over past prostitution, employee theft, or bestiality/animal-cruelty history, first reported by CBS News on August 28, 2026. At a September 15, 2026 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, FBI Director Kash Patel defended the change as intended to protect trafficking and abuse victims from disqualification, saying "we did not want to punish victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked." Sen. Dick Durbin disputed that framing, saying the rule as written removes disqualification for "applicants who have engaged" in the conduct, not specifically victims. Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe publicly called Patel’s rationale "not entirely believable."
Source and context
Original video
About this source
Catherine Rampell and Joe Perticone discuss the FBI hiring-standards change on video, ~20:43-23:30.
Before the quotation
Said in a September 6, 2026 video discussing the FBI hiring-standards change, ~20:43-23:30.
After the quotation
Said as part of a panel discussion on FBI recruiting standards.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Rampell frames the policy as no longer optimizing for effectiveness but for personal loyalty to Trump, an express condemnation of the hiring-standards change.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Kash Patel, Federal Bureau of Investigation
More from this case
Read the full caseFBI National Press Office: applicants who engaged in criminal sexual acts remain ineligible
Federal Bureau of Investigation
“We are not 'relaxing hiring standards' - that is totally false... any applicant who has engaged in criminal sexual acts like those referenced would of course not be eligible for employment, and it is ridiculous to suggest otherwise.”Read statement
Maureen Steele accepts the trafficking-victim rationale but says the FBI wrote it too broadly: "Victims deserve mercy. Federal power demands character."
“Victims deserve mercy. Federal power demands character.”Read statement
Wallace calls Patel's testimony "unbelievable," evidence of institutional decline
“unbelievable... just how far the FBI has fallen under the direction and leadership”Read statement
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- Catherine Rampell: lowered FBI standards reward "loyalty to Donald Trump"
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The Dispute Index. "Catherine Rampell: lowered FBI standards reward "loyalty to Donald Trump"". First published: 2026-09-17. Last updated: 2026-09-17. https://disputeindex.com/events/930-catherine-rampell-said-the-fbi-s-lowered-hiring