WASHINGTON—President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of political ally Kash Patel to head up the FBI sent shockwaves through the capital, but it’s in the Capitol that his fate will be decided.
Several Republican senators aren’t making any commitments yet, but Patel has already had a warmer reception than previous nominees. 
As with other high-level executive appointments, Patel’s nomination will need to be approved by the Senate, where Republicans enter the upcoming Congress with a relatively comfortable 53 seats to Democrats’ 47.
For Patel’s nomination to be confirmed, he’d need to win all but three Republicans in the upper chamber, in which case then-Vice President JD Vance would presumptively cast a tie-breaking vote to push the nomination through….