FBI co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey steps down after one year on the job

Andrew Bailey is departing his post as co-deputy director of the FBI after roughly a year in the role, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to NBC News.

Bailey joined the bureau in September 2025 in a newly established position that placed him alongside then-Deputy Director Dan Bongino, a structure that broke from the FBI's traditional single-deputy leadership model. He confirmed his departure on social media Monday morning.

According to the two sources, an internal email circulated within the FBI cited family reasons for Bailey's exit. Before taking the FBI role, Bailey served as attorney general of Missouri, a position he left to join the bureau.

In his public statement, Bailey thanked President Donald Trump, Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel for the chance to serve. He said that under Trump's leadership, the bureau had achieved significant progress toward making the country safer, and that he was stepping down to return to his family in Missouri. Bailey added that he trusted Patel to continue overhauling the FBI, tackling violent crime, protecting national security, strengthening accountability within the organization, and rebuilding public confidence in the bureau.

The FBI directed inquiries about Bailey's departure to his social media statement, NBC News reported.

Bailey's exit follows a similar pattern set by Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and conservative podcaster, who left the FBI after less than a year to return to podcasting. Despite Bongino's departure, the unconventional dual-deputy arrangement he helped establish remained intact. Bongino was succeeded in the role by Chris Raia, a career FBI special agent whose background more closely resembles the bureau's traditional approach of filling the powerful No. 2 position with someone possessing deep institutional experience.

MS NOW was first to report on Bailey's planned exit, according to NBC News.

Director Patel, who leads the bureau, has been engaged in a legal dispute with The Atlantic, suing the publication for $250 million over an article concerning his leadership. He has also recently had contentious exchanges with Democratic lawmakers regarding his stewardship of the FBI, according to NBC News.

The departures of both Bailey and Bongino within roughly a year of the co-deputy director structure's creation raise questions about the stability of the FBI's revamped leadership arrangement under Patel. With Raia now in the position, the bureau's second-highest office returns to a profile more consistent with its historical staffing pattern, though the dual-deputy framework itself has not been dismantled.

NBC News noted that Bailey's tenure was brief relative to typical FBI leadership appointments, and his move marks the latest in a string of high-level personnel changes at the bureau since the current administration took office.