Trump appointee overseeing election investigations steps down from FBI role

Andrew Bailey, an FBI deputy director who has overseen several of Donald Trump's election-related investigations, is leaving the bureau roughly a year after taking the job. He announced on X on Monday that he was stepping down to return to his family in Missouri, thanking FBI Director Kash Patel, Trump and Attorney General Todd Blanche, and voicing confidence that Patel would keep reforming the bureau. Patel responded on X by thanking Bailey for his service. MS Now first reported the resignation, according to The Guardian.

Bailey, previously Missouri's attorney general and known for hardline conservative politics, joined the FBI in September 2025 as one of two deputy directors, sharing the post with Dan Bongino, a podcaster with no prior bureau background. After Bongino departed in January, Bailey partnered instead with Christopher Raia, who spent his career as an FBI agent and rose through leadership at the New York field office; whether Trump will name a replacement to work alongside Raia remains unknown. Bailey's portfolio included election-related cases, and he personally took part in January's search of a Fulton County, Georgia election office, where agents seized ballots and other 2020 presidential election materials.

Patel's tenure atop the FBI has coincided with widespread departures of career personnel, some pushed out over alleged political bias and others leaving by choice over retaliation fears or objections to directives. Despite Bailey's stated family reasons, the New York Times reported that he and Raia had a difficult dynamic with Patel, at times not speaking for extended periods.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →