WASHINGTON — FBI Director Christopher Wray plans to resign at the end of the Biden administration, as President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Wray told bureau employees on Wednesday.
“After weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the Bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current Administration in January and then step down,” Wray said, according to prepared remarks. “My goal is to keep the focus on our mission — the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.”
Trump has already said he will nominate Kash Patel for the position of FBI director, a job which has typically come with a 10-year term, part of a post-Watergate reform intended to make FBI directors less beholden to the whims of presidents.
Trump indicated in a recent interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that he wasn’t “thrilled” with Wray, saying that Wray “invaded Mar-a-Lago” — a reference to the 2022 FBI search for classified documents which led to Trump’s 2023 indictment on seven criminal charges — and that he wanted someone in place to “straighten” out the bureau.
“I mean, it would sort of seem pretty obvious that if Kash gets in, he’s going to be taking somebody’s place, right?” Trump said, responding to a question on whether he would fire Wray if the FBI director didn’t resign on his own.
Wray, a Republican, was appointed by Trump in 2017 after the then-president fired James Comey as FBI director. Comey’s departure sparked the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel investigating the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election. Under normal protocol, Wray’s term would expire in 2027, although Mueller is the only person to have served a full term as FBI director since the 10-year post-Watergate norm was put in place. Only two FBI directors (including Comey) have been pushed out.
Republican confidence in the FBI has plummeted in the near-decade since Trump came down the golden escalator in 2015 and announced his run for president of the United States. While the bureau has traditionally been a generally conservative-leaning organization filled with law enforcement and military veterans (who have an advantage in the FBI hiring process), Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill and in the conservative media have portrayed the FBI as a hotbed of liberalism and the home of the “deep state” determined to take him down.
While most of the FBI’s work takes place far-afield of daily politics, much of the public discussion of the bureau’s work in recent years has centered on political cases, many of them involving Trump.
Wray said Wednesday that it was not an easy decision for him to resign.
“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,” he said. “When you look at where the threats are headed, it’s clear that the importance of our work — keeping Americans safe and upholding the Constitution — will not change. And what absolutely cannot, must not change is our commitment to doing the right thing, the right way, every time.”
“Our adherence to our core values, our dedication to independence and objectivity, and our defense of the rule of law — those fundamental aspects of who we are must never change,” Wray continued. “That’s the real strength of the FBI — the importance of our mission, the quality of our people, and their dedication to service over self. It’s an unshakeable foundation that’s stood the test of time, and cannot be easily moved. And it — you, the men and women of the FBI — are why the Bureau will endure and remain successful long into the future.”