A heated exchange erupted Tuesday during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing when FBI Director Kash Patel defended physical fitness standards for incoming special agents, including a pullup requirement that Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) criticized as disproportionately affecting female applicants.
The dispute began when Hirono questioned Patel on recent changes to FBI recruitment standards, specifically the newly implemented requirement that all applicants must complete a single pullup to pass the agency’s physical fitness test.
“You are now requiring applicants to be able to do a certain kind of pullup, which a lot of women cannot because of physiological differences,” Hirono said. “Are you requiring these kinds of pullups?”
Patel, who has overseen sweeping reforms at the bureau since taking office earlier this year, confirmed the requirement and defended it as essential for operational readiness.
“We are requiring a physical program at BFTC at Quantico because FBI agents carrying guns in the field have to chase down bad guys and do really hard work,” he responded. “The physical fitness standards of those agents are being appropriately assessed. … If you want to chase down a bad guy and put him in handcuffs, you better be able to do a pullup.”
Hirono pushed back, calling the standard “harsh” and suggesting it could discourage capable women from applying to the FBI.
“There are concerns about whether or not being able to do these kinds of harsh pullups is really required of FBI agents,” she said.
Patel dismissed that characterization, replying, “Doing one pullup is not harsh, and there are always medical exemptions to that.”
Beyond physical standards, Hirono expressed broader concerns about Patel’s leadership, accusing him of overseeing a “mass exodus” from the bureau. She cited nearly $500 million in budget cuts and claimed morale had plummeted amid retirements, reassignments, and internal shake-ups.
“I am gravely concerned by the state of the FBI under your control,” Hirono said. “Thousands have already left. … For as long as you remain as the head of the FBI, I fear the number of departures and summary firings will continue to grow.”
In an unexpected pivot, Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) seized on Hirono’s remarks to make a broader argument about gender-based standards — and to advocate preserving sex-based distinctions in areas such as women’s sports.
“Before I begin, I want to thank Sen. Hirono for what she said, acknowledging that there are physical differences between men and women,” Britt said. “I think she was making a case that there should be different standards … and that’s why we continue to say we should have biological men in men’s sports and biological women in women’s sports.”
Under Patel’s leadership, the FBI has already made significant adjustments to its recruitment pipeline. In August, the bureau dropped its long-standing college degree requirement and reduced training time at the FBI Academy in Quantico from 18 weeks to eight weeks.
Beginning in November 2025, all applicants seeking to become special agents must complete one strict pullup during the PFT. The standard mandates that hands be placed no wider than two hand widths outside the shoulders, with applicants required to lift themselves until their chin clears the bar.