Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear.

The U.S. Senate has voted to confirm Cash Patel as the new director of the FBI.

Patel's controversial nomination was pushed over the line despite fierce opposition from Democrats.

Here's NPR's Ryan Lucas.

The Republican-led Senate confirmed Patel by a vote of 51 to 49 to lead the FBI,

the nation's most powerful law enforcement agency. Two Republican senators, Maine, Susan Collins,

and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski joined all Senate Democrats in opposition. Patel is a former

prosecutor and was a national security official in Trump's first term. He's also a Trump loyalist

and fierce critic of the FBI. His Republican supporters say he will fix what they argue is the

politicization of the FBI against conservatives. Patel's critics, meanwhile, say he lacks the necessary

experience and temperament to lead the Bureau and worry that he will use

the FBI's vast powers to make good on his repeated threats to go after his and Trump's

perceived enemies.

Ryan Lucas NPR News, Washington.

Several labor unions representing federal workers have filed a new lawsuit challenging the

Trump administration's mass firings of probationary employees.

Unions are asking another court to declare the move unlawful. NPR's Andrew Shrew reports.

The unions argue that through the mass firings, the Office of Personnel Management has perpetrated,

quote, one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.

They point to the boilerplate

letters probationary employees across agencies received, citing problems with their performance.

Many had no performance issues at all. The unions also argue that OPM has no authority to order

...