Sen. Cory Booker (D-Conn.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) got into a shouting match during FBI director Kash Patel’s oversight hearing on Tuesday, with the 92-year-old Republican asking his 57-year-old colleague, “Are you ready to shut up?”
On Tuesday, the FBI director sat in front of a Senate Judiciary Committee to answer a swath of questions that included Patel’s use of the Bureau to pressure journalists. Booker fought for his time as Patel cut him off, which led to a shouting match with Grassley, serving as chairman of the committee.
Grassley claimed Booker’s time was up but the latter pressed on with his closing remark.
“My concluding remark is: We don’t have an FBI director, we have a lackey here who’s using government – and frankly, he’s not even a good lackey, he’s an incompetent lackey,” Booker said. “He’s like an 18-year-old kid who wants to join a fraternity that he could never be a member of, doing keg stands and chugging with friends. He’s an embarrassment to the agency and wouldn’t qualify even to be an FBI agent. He won’t answer questions for a committee. He insults Democrats here, and you don’t step in. He has a little book by his side that he literally is using to try to intimidate people, in the same way he intimidates reporters.”
Sen. @CoryBooker (D-NJ) calls FBI Director Patel a lackey and argues with @ChuckGrassley (R-IA): Booker: “What a mockery you are.” Patel: “You are the biggest mockery in the United States Senate.” Grassley: “Are you ready to shut up?” pic.twitter.com/ehZ90FOxSp
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 15, 2026
He fought over Grassley to continue: “He is a disgrace, sir, and the fact that we are not asking him – in fact, demanding him – to answer the most basic oversight questions is a further testimony to what is bad. What’s bad is not just that we have a rogue FBI agent intimidating reporters; what’s bad is that we have Republicans in the Senate that are enabling him to go without any objective oversight, or transparency or accountability.”
Grassley asked Booker why he thought he was “special” and deserved to continue on, after previously saying he let the senator go over. Booker responded that he wasn’t special before Grassley cut back in that both a Democrat and Republican had gone over their time.
“My time has just now reached what Mike Lee did, and we as a committee have done what you’ve done before, which is ask him to answer basic questions,” Booker continued. “He won’t even do it in writing. This is a mockery and a sham. We have a rogue agent intimidating the press, violating people’s First Amendment rights, and doing everything the president has.”
“You don’t show much respect for your chairman,” Grassley responded. “You’ve gone on now for three minutes.”
Booker came back that he did respect Grassley but asserted that he was “not holding this witness in an objective way to answer the questions that are given to him by Democratic senators,” despite Patel’s continued attacks on them.
“You understand Mr. Director why during the Kavanaugh hearings I let people talk and talk because it takes longer to shut them up than it does to let them talk,” Grassley said.
Patel then handed off his time only for a heckler behind him to shout out against the FBI director. As the man was pulled from the hearing, Booker chimed back in to make what the man said heard.
“You’re getting thrown out but they can’t throw me out, I’m going to hold this man accountable for as long as he’s in this job until he gets fired – which he probably will because he’s incompetent at his job,” Booker said.
After another back and forth between him and Patel, Booker added: “This is ridiculous. What a mockery you are.”
“You are the biggest mockery in the United States Senate,” Patel responded.
That pushed Grassley to finally put an end to the skirmish.
“Are you done now?” he shouted at Booker. “Are you ready to shut up?”
Watch the moment above.
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