Andrew Bailey, the former Missouri attorney general who joined FBI leadership last year, announced Monday that he is leaving his post as co-deputy director, saying he intends to return to his family in Missouri.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
WASHINGTON — FBI Co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey announced Monday that he is stepping down after just over a year in the bureau’s senior leadership, ending an unusual tenure in which he shared the agency’s No. 2 position first with Dan Bongino and later with veteran FBI official Christopher Raia.
Bailey said publicly that his decision was driven by a desire to return to his wife and four children in Missouri.
“I want to thank President [Donald] Trump, @AGToddBlanche, and @FBIDirectorKash for the opportunity to serve in the FBI,” Bailey wrote in his announcement Monday. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we have delivered historic results in our mission to Make America Safe Again. With great pride in what we have accomplished, I am announcing that I am stepping down to return to my family in Missouri.”
“I am confident [FBI Director Kash] Patel will continue to reform the FBI, combat violent crime, defend the homeland, ensure strong organizational accountability, and restore public trust in this institution of excellence,” the post continued.
Two people familiar with the personnel decision told Bloomberg Law that Bailey’s resignation will take effect Oct. 2. The sources spoke anonymously because they were discussing an internal personnel matter. Bloomberg reported that Bailey had informed colleagues Monday that he intended to leave Washington and return to Missouri.
FBI Director Kash Patel publicly thanked Bailey for his work and said the reforms he helped put in place would remain after his departure.
“I want to thank Andrew Bailey for his dedicated service to return the FBI to its core mission and fulfill President Trump’s promise to make America safe again,” Patel wrote in a Monday post. “Although Andrew is leaving the FBI in order to return to his family in Missouri, his fantastic contribution instituting critical reforms which resulted in our historic success will live on.”
“Andrew’s leadership at the FBI will be missed but we are grateful he answered the call to serve! Thanks Andrew for your tremendous dedication to the mission of this FBI,” Patel added.
Bailey joined the bureau after serving as Missouri’s 44th attorney general.
He took office as attorney general in January 2023 after then-Gov. Mike Parson appointed him to replace Eric Schmitt, who had been elected to the U.S. Senate. Bailey remained in the position until Sept. 8, 2025, when he resigned to accept the federal appointment. His background and tenure in Missouri are summarized in his Ballotpedia profile.
At the time Bailey left Missouri, his office announced that he would become co-deputy director of the FBI. He had previously served as an Army officer with two deployments to Iraq, an assistant attorney general, assistant prosecutor and general counsel in both the Missouri Department of Corrections and governor’s office.
His appointment created an unconventional arrangement at FBI headquarters.
The deputy director has traditionally been the bureau’s single second-ranking official, responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations beneath the director. Under Patel, Bailey shared those duties.
When Bailey joined the FBI in 2025, he served alongside Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, conservative broadcaster and longtime Trump supporter who had become deputy director in March of that year.
Bongino remained in the position until early January 2026. Christopher Raia, a career FBI agent who had led the bureau’s New York field office and previously worked in counterterrorism, was subsequently selected to succeed him. Raia then became co-deputy director alongside Bailey. Reuters reported in January that the arrangement would leave both Bailey and Raia serving as deputy directors under Patel.
Bailey’s departure will leave Raia in the bureau’s senior operational leadership unless Patel announces another appointment.
Bailey publicly portrayed his resignation as an amicable departure, and Patel’s statement likewise praised his service.
Behind the scenes, however, some news organizations have reported tension between Bailey and Patel.
Multiple unidentified people familiar with the internal relationship told The New York Times that Bailey and Patel had not worked well together and sometimes went extended periods without speaking.
That account relies on anonymous sources and differs from the cordial public statements issued Monday by both men. Neither Bailey nor Patel cited disagreements between them as a reason for the resignation.
Bloomberg Law similarly characterized Bailey’s tenure as turbulent but reported that he told colleagues he was leaving to spend more time with his family.
Bailey’s exit is the second departure from the FBI’s deputy-director ranks during Patel’s tenure.
Bongino left in January after less than a year at the bureau. His appointment had been unusual because FBI deputy directors have generally risen through the agency’s career ranks. Raia’s selection represented a return to that model: he joined the FBI in 2003 and held a series of investigative and leadership assignments before taking command of the New York field office.
Bailey arrived from a different background.
As Missouri attorney general, he became a nationally prominent Republican legal official and participated in litigation involving the Biden administration, social media companies, abortion, transgender policies, federal regulations and legal proceedings involving Trump.
When Bailey announced his resignation as Missouri attorney general in August 2025, he described joining the FBI as another call to public service.
“It has been a humbling privilege to serve as the 44th Attorney General of the State of Missouri, and I am forever grateful to the people of Missouri for the opportunity to represent our state and your families,” Bailey said at the time. He added that “Missouri is and always will be home.”
He formally joined an FBI being reshaped under Patel, whom Trump selected to lead the bureau after returning to the White House.
The FBI’s own leadership page continues to identify Patel as director.
Bailey’s Monday statement credited Trump, Patel and Attorney General Todd Blanche for giving him the opportunity to serve. Blanche became the 88th U.S. attorney general in August after previously serving as deputy and acting attorney general.
Bailey also said he believed the bureau had made substantial progress during his tenure, pointing broadly to violent-crime enforcement, homeland security, accountability and efforts to rebuild public confidence.
Patel echoed that assessment, crediting Bailey with helping institute reforms during the past year.
Neither man provided details Monday about who, if anyone, would replace Bailey or whether the FBI intends to continue operating with two deputy directors.
Bailey’s departure takes place amid wider personnel turnover at the bureau. Bloomberg reported that veteran FBI personnel have departed or been reassigned during Patel’s tenure, including officials connected with investigations that became politically contentious. Those changes have generated criticism from Democratic lawmakers and former bureau officials, while Patel and Trump administration officials have said their restructuring is intended to restore accountability and refocus the agency on its core law-enforcement responsibilities.
The resignation also comes only months after Bailey became one of the most visible officials in FBI headquarters leadership.
Unlike Raia, whose career has largely been inside federal law enforcement, Bailey arrived at the bureau with an extensive public political and legal record from Missouri. That combination made the shared deputy-director arrangement particularly unusual within an agency where the No. 2 job historically has been occupied by a career FBI official.
Bailey will now return to Missouri, where his family remained during much of his federal service.
His departure is scheduled for Oct. 2, according to Bloomberg’s sources, bringing to an end a little more than one year as co-deputy director.
Bailey gave no indication in his announcement that he plans to seek another government or political position.
Instead, his public message emphasized his family, the work completed during his tenure and his confidence that Patel will continue leading the bureau after his departure.
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