FBI Director Christopher Wray announced that he will step down at the end of the current administration. He will leave office before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next month.
He made the announcement during a town hall with FBI employees on Wednesday.
“After weeks of careful consideration, I have decided that what is right for the office is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down,” he said. “My goal is to keep the focus on our mission: the indispensable work you are doing every day on behalf of the American people. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the office deeper into the struggle, while reinforcing the values and principles so important to how we do our work.”
“It goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway; this is not easy for me,” Wray continued. “I love this place, I love our mission and I love our people, but my focus is, and always has been, on us and doing what’s right for the FBI.”
The president-elect welcomed Wray’s announcement on social media publicationcalling it “a great day for America.”
trump named Wray — a former federal prosecutor and counterterrorism official — as FBI director in 2017 for a 10-year term after firing James Comey. Since then, Wray has been criticized by Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill for his handling of the FBI’s investigations into the president-elect. He has remained director under President Biden, but Trump previously said he intended to remove Wray and replace him Kash Patel, a former GOP member of Congress who was tapped by Trump during his first term to serve in the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Wray told the FBI base, “We’re not on any side … We’re on the side of the American people” and “on the side of the Constitution,” adding that “it doesn’t matter what’s going on out there , in here, we must remain committed to doing our job the right way every time, with rigor and integrity.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland praised Wray, saying in a statement that he “has served our country with honor and integrity for decades, including seven years as FBI director under presidents of both parties.”
“The FBI director is responsible for protecting the FBI’s independence from improper influence in its criminal investigations,” Garland said. “This independence is critical to preserving the rule of law and protecting the freedoms we Americans hold dear. Director Wray has done this job with integrity and skill.”
Wray’s decision was made “some time ago” and Wray struggled with the decision, a source familiar with his impending departure told CBS News. In the end, Wray’s focus was to do what was best for the FBI, the source said. Wray worried that if he stayed, the attacks against him would drag the agency into a political fight at a time when the threat level is rising on multiple fronts, the source said.
FBI directors are appointed to a 10-year term, which has historically been intended to ensure that the position is insulated from political considerations. But presidents have the power to remove and appoint directors at will, and many FBI directors have not served their full terms. The Senate must also vote to confirm any president’s nominee to serve as FBI director.
Wray’s announcement leads the way Patel lead the FBI in Trump’s second term. Patel has met on Capitol Hill with senators who will vote on his confirmation.
Wray and the FBI leadership became the target of Trump’s ire in 2022, when FBI agents executed a court-authorized act. search order at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. The search exposed what had been an ongoing federal investigation into Trump’s handling of classified records after he left office. The investigation culminated in criminal charges against Trump brought by special counsel Jack Smith, but they have since been dismissed by a federal judge. Trump pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
If confirmed, Patel would be the third FBI director to work under the Trump administration and take charge of the nation’s top federal law enforcement agency amid years of intense criticism from Trump and the his allies in the Capitol. While Wray’s departure from the job was widely expected, Trump’s announcement that he planned to nominate Patel to the position led to speculation among federal law enforcement officials about whether Wray would resign or remain in office early of Trump’s inauguration.
Wray took over after Trump fired then-director James Comey, in part because of the FBI’s investigation into the 2016 election that resulted in Quote from Robert Mueller as special counsel for this case. Comey, who has since become an outspoken critic of the president-elect, found himself at odds with Democrats and Republicans after his departure from the FBI’s top job.
Since his confirmation in 2017, Wray has spent much of his tenure focusing on domestic issues such as the hiring of agents and national security issues, including the fight against China’s espionage campaigns. He sounded the alarm about foreign efforts to attack US infrastructure and warned of aggressive attitudes from Iran and Russia.
The FBI employs about 35,000 people, including thousands of field agents, charged with enforcing federal law and investigating crimes nationwide, including terrorism, espionage, and child exploitation.
Patel, who could soon be Wray’s replacement, has been outspoken in his criticism of the federal agency and has said he would implement massive reforms and seek retribution for Trump, at one point saying, “We’re going after the media people who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig the presidential election.”
In his remarks, Wray reminded the bureau’s employees that working at the FBI “means conducting investigations without fear or favor … and it means not conducting investigations when preaching is not there.”
Patel would report directly to the U.S. attorney general — Trump’s current pick for the post is former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi.
Trump’s announcement that he planned to name Patel, 44, as FBI director drew criticism from Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill and some former officials from Trump’s first term.
John Bolton, who served as national security adviser in Trump’s first term and was Patel’s boss, compared the nomination to the head of Joseph Stalin’s secret police.
“Fortunately, the FBI is not” Stalin’s secret police, Bolton said. “The Senate should reject this nomination 100-0,” a reaction that drew pushback from Trump allies and Vice President-elect JD Vance.
But Republicans on Capitol Hill have been open to the selection, arguing it could bring change to the FBI.