Former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is stepping down as FBI co-deputy director after just over a year at the bureau, saying Monday he plans to return to his family in Missouri. His resignation is expected to take effect Oct. 2.
Bailey’s departure marks another change at the top of the FBI under Director Kash Patel and comes months after former Deputy Director Dan Bongino left the bureau. Bailey entered the FBI under an unusual arrangement that split the bureau’s No. 2 position between two people.
Bailey announced his resignation Monday on X, thanking President Donald Trump, Attorney General Todd Blanche and Patel for the opportunity to serve.
“With great pride in what we have accomplished, I am announcing that I am stepping down to return to my family in Missouri,” Bailey wrote. “I am confident Director Patel 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.”
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Patel praised Bailey following the announcement, thanking him for his service and crediting him with helping institute changes at the bureau.
“Andrew’s leadership at the FBI will be missed but we are grateful he answered the call to serve,” Patel wrote on X.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe also praised Bailey, pointing to his military and public service.
“Throughout his time in the military and public service, Andrew Bailey has consistently answered the call for his state and nation,” Kehoe wrote on X, adding that Bailey had worked “tirelessly” at the FBI.
Bailey, a Republican, joined the FBI in 2025 after serving as Missouri’s attorney general. Former Gov. Mike Parson appointed Bailey attorney general in 2022 after Eric Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate. Bailey took office in January 2023 and won election to a full term in 2024 before leaving the office the following year to join the FBI. He was named co-deputy director alongside Bongino.
Bongino later announced he would leave the bureau after less than a year in the job following a tenure that included a public dispute over the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files. Career FBI official Christopher Raia was subsequently named a co-deputy director and remains in the position.
Bailey’s relationship with Patel was at times strained, according to CBS News, which cited two people familiar with their interactions. The sources said Bailey was initially excluded from some meetings and that Patel kept him at arm’s length. One source told CBS News that Bailey raised concerns about whether some proposed actions were constitutional.
Neither Bailey nor Patel referenced any disagreements in announcing Bailey’s departure. Patel instead credited Bailey with helping carry out what he called “critical reforms” and contributing to the bureau’s successes.
Bailey maintained a relatively low public profile at the FBI but was involved in several high-profile operations. In January, he was present when FBI agents executed a search warrant at an election facility in Fulton County, Georgia, and seized ballots and other materials from the 2020 presidential election as part of a federal investigation.
In Missouri, Bailey also participated in efforts targeting violent crime. Operation VIPER, a two-week federal initiative in the St. Louis region, resulted in 91 arrests and the seizure of 36 firearms, roughly $310,000 in cash and quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl, according to officials.
Bailey did not announce what he plans to do professionally after returning to Missouri.
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