Kash Patel addresses the crowd ahead of Donald Trump at a campaign rally at the Findlay Toyota Arena in Prescott Valley, Arizona, last month.
Patel was in talks to be appointed deputy CIA director at the end of Trump's term, but the agency's head, Gina Haspel, opposed the move, threatening to resign, according to an Axios report at the time.
The Trump transition team has been working to keep discussions about who will fill top Cabinet positions private until the president-elect makes the official announcements.
Patel has been speculated as a potential top pick for months. A staunch critic of the investigation into Trump and Russian interference in 2016, he has long opposed what he sees as government overreach, particularly in how federal agencies surveil Republicans.