By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-09-28 16:46:57 | Updated at 2026-09-28 21:40:23
5 hours ago
Then-Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey leaves the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on March 18, 2024. Bonnie Cash/Reuters
The FBI’s co-deputy director on Sept. 28 announced he will step down from his role, leaving the federal law enforcement agency after about a year on the job.
Co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey, a Republican who left his position as Missouri’s attorney general to join the FBI in 2025, wrote on social media that he was leaving the job.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we have delivered historic results in our mission to Make America Safe Again,” Bailey said in his X post. “With great pride in what we have accomplished, I am announcing that I am stepping down to return to my family in Missouri.”
He also thanked FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Todd Blanche, adding that he believes they “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 decision was confirmed in an X post by Patel on Monday morning.
“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 said in the post, adding that Bailey 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,” Patel added. “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.”
When he was named to the position, Bailey had worked alongside former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who left the Trump administration earlier in 2026 to return to podcasting. Bongino was replaced by Christopher Raia, a former FBI special agent who became co-deputy director alongside Bailey.
Neither Bailey nor Patel said when he would be leaving the position, and Patel did not name his successor. The Epoch Times contacted the FBI for comment but received no response as of press time.
Bailey stepped down as Missouri’s attorney general in September 2025, leading Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe to appoint Catherine Hanaway to fill the then-vacant position.
His announcement on Monday comes as the FBI said last month that violent crime has declined across major U.S. cities in recent months.
Homicides dropped by 17.2 percent during the first half of 2026, while robberies fell by 16.6 percent, according to an Aug. 5 report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association survey, which cited data from 66 of the largest cities in the United States.
Newark, New Jersey; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Arlington, Texas, posted the most significant declines, according to the report.
Meanwhile, rapes decreased by 6.2 percent, and aggravated assaults dropped by 5.7 percent in those cities, the report also found.
The Associated Press and Timothy Frudd contributed to this report.
