WASHINGTON — FBI Director Chris Wray informed bureau staff on Wednesday that he intends to step down at the end of the current administration, when Donald Trump assumes office.
Following weeks of deliberation, I’ve determined that serving until the end of the present Administration in January and then stepping aside is what’s best for the Bureau,” Wray stated. “I want to maintain the focus on our purpose and the vital work you undertake every day for the American people. This, in my opinion, is the greatest approach to uphold the ideals and concepts that are so crucial to the way we carry out our work without drawing the Bureau further into the conflict.
As part of a post-Watergate policy meant to make FBI directors less subject to the whims of presidents, President-elect Donald Trump has already said that he will propose Kash Patel for the role of FBI director, which has traditionally carried a 10-year term.
In a recent interview with “Meet the Press” on NBC News, Trump stated that he wasn’t “thrilled” with Wray, claiming that Wray “invaded Mar-a-Lago”—a reference to the FBI’s 2022 search for classified documents that resulted in Trump’s 2023 indictment on seven criminal charges—and that he wanted someone in place to “straighten” out the bureau.
“I mean, it would sort of seem pretty obvious that if Kash gets in, he s going to be taking somebody s place, right?” When asked if he would fire Wray if the FBI director didn’t quit on his own, Trump responded as follows.
Trump appointed Wray, a Republican, as FBI director in 2017 after dismissing James Comey. Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel to look into the Trump campaign and Russian meddling in the 2016 election as a result of Comey’s dismissal. Wray’s term would normally end in 2027, but Mueller is the only FBI director to have held the position for the entire entire 10-year post-Watergate norm. Comey is one of just two FBI directors who have been fired.
In the nearly ten years since Trump descended the golden escalator and declared his intention to run for president of the United States in 2015, Republican trust in the FBI has fallen precipitously. Trump and his supporters on Capitol Hill and in the conservative media have painted the FBI as a bastion of liberalism and the home of the “deep state” out to destroy him, despite the fact that the bureau has historically been a generally conservative organization full of law enforcement and military veterans (who have an advantage in the FBI hiring process).
Even though the majority of the FBI’s work is beyond the realm of everyday politics, political cases—many of which involve Trump—have dominated public discourse about the bureau’s work in recent years.
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