Andrew Bailey, FBI co-deputy director, resigns

Sept. 28 (UPI) — Another FBI official has announced that he will leave the FBI after about a year in the job.

Andrew Bailey was a co-deputy director working with Dan Bongino, who left the role earlier this year and was replaced by Chris Raia, a career FBI special agent. They worked with FBI Director Kash Patel as part of a three-person leadership arrangement, The New York Times reported.

Bailey, who took on the job in September 2025, said in a social media post that he is stepping down “to return to my family in Missouri.” He said he has “great pride in what we have accomplished.”

“I am confident Director 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,” Bailey wrote.

Patel said Bailey made “a fantastic contribution instituting critical reforms,” The Times reported.

Bailey served as the attorney general of Missouri from January 2023 before he resigned to join the FBI. The agency has not announced if he will be replaced or if Raia will remain the only co-deputy director.

“My life has been defined by a call to service, and I am once again answering that call, this time at a national level,” Bailey said in August 2025 when he resigned as Missouri attorney general to take the FBI position.

In his Missouri role, Bailey sued Starbucks for its diversity, equity and inclusion policies and sought to block election monitors from the U.S. Justice Department from polling places to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act during the Biden administration.

Bongino, a conservative podcaster and former Secret Service member, left the position to return to podcasting in January. He had previously clashed with now-former-Attorney-General Pam Bondi about the release of the Epstein files.