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Kash is an attorney who served as chief of staff to the Acting United States Secretary of Defense under President Donald Trump. Patel has worked at the United States National Security Council and United States House of Representatives and was previously a federal public defender, a federal prosecutor working on national security cases, and a legal liaison to the United States Armed Forces.

Patel was an aide to House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes, during which Patel played a prominent role in promoting the Republican discreditation of the investigations into Donald Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election. He was the primary author of the Nunes memo which alleged that the FBI was biased against Trump. The New York Times opined that the memo was widely dismissed as "biased" containing "cherry-picked facts" though "it galvanized President Trump's allies and made Mr. Patel a hero among them."

After the leadership changeover of the House of Representatives, Patel was hired as a staffer for President Trump's National Security Council. Patel held several staff positions in the Trump administration, including Principal Deputy to the Acting Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Within months of his appointment, it was suspected that Patel had assumed the role of an additional independent back channel for the President, which was seen as potentially detrimental to American policy in Ukraine. It was noticed that during NSC meetings Patel took few notes and was underqualified for his portfolio, the United Nations.

In January 2021, Trump had considered Patel for appointment as Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency to replace Gina Haspel, but was instead appointed Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency immediately before a planned dismissal of Haspel, allowing him to head the agency in an acting capacity.