Patel defended the FBI’s rigorous physical requirements in response to a line of questioning from a Democratic senator, noting all agents should be able to do a pullup to do their job.
“If you want to chase down a bad guy and put him in handcuffs, you better be able to
do a pullup,” he said simply.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) described the bureau’s pullup requirement as “harsh.” Patel responded, “Doing one pullup is not harsh, and there are always medical exceptions to that.”
Democratic lawmakers have warned that the FBI’s requirement of one complete pullup would reduce the number of female agents in the field. Durbin previously said that it could be as much as 30%.
