FBI Director Christopher Wray to Resign... Before He’s Fired!

What Happened

Director of the FBI Christopher Wray is out.

Or he will be… soon.

He announced this week that he will resign at the end of President Biden’s term of office.

That’s an early departure for the President Trump-appointed head of America’s most powerful law enforcement organization.

The planned resignation will come seven years into Wray’s ten-year term, which FBI directors typically serve after being appointed.

President-elect Trump’s announcement that he plans to nominate Kash Patel for the FBI’s top job upon taking office seems certain to have spurred Mr. Wray to step aside early rather than wait to be fired in 2025. 

Why it Matters

Mr. Wray was appointed by President Trump in 2017 where he received overwhelming confirmation in the Senate by a vote of 92 in favor with 5 against his appointment.

Before being appointed by President Trump to lead the FBI, Mr. Wray worked for President George W. Bush in the Justice Department. According to Perry Stein of the Washington Post:

‘Mr. Wray announced his plans at a town hall with the FBI workforce Wednesday afternoon, telling his employees that while it was a hard decision to cut his term short, he believed it was the best one for the bureau.’

Wray’s early departure would leave the FBI’s deputy, long-time bureau veteran Paul Abbate, in charge until Mr. Patel’s appointment could be confirmed in early 2025. 

President-elect Trump has made no secret of his disdain for Mr. Wray’s conduct in office. This included leading two investigations into Mr. Trump, both of which resulted in federal indictments against the current President-elect.

Mr. Trump has accused Mr. Wray of acting illegally in carrying out a search of Mar-a-Lago for alleged mishandling of classified documents. Though it is unclear what if any actions the new administration might take against Mr. Wray after his resignation takes effect. 

How it Affects You

According to Newsweek, Mr. Wray’s resignation could be seen as a tactic to delay the arrival of the incoming nominee, because ‘if a vacancy occurs in a Senate-confirmed position, the president can temporarily replace that appointee (such as the FBI director) only with a person who has already received Senate confirmation or with a person who has served in a senior capacity in the agency for at least 90 days in the year before the resignation.’

Newsweek went on to note that Mr. Patel meets neither of those requirements. Had Mr. Wray remained in office until he was fired, Mr. Trump could then have immediately put Mr. Patel in charge of the FBI even while his Senate confirmation continued.

Regardless, Mr. Wray’s early resignation is a clear political victory for President-elect Trump, who made reforming the FBI a central theme in his 2024 Presidential election campaign.