Andrew Bailey is stepping down as FBI co-deputy director after just a year in the unusual dual leadership post, citing a return to his family in Missouri and credit for results under President Trump.
Bailey confirmed the move Monday morning on social media after an internal FBI email described his departure as driven by family reasons, NBC News reported.
The former Missouri attorney general joined the bureau in September 2025 in a newly created co-deputy director role. He is now leaving Washington to go home.
In his announcement, Bailey thanked President Donald Trump, Attorney General Todd Blanche, and FBI Director Kash Patel for the chance to serve.
He framed the tenure as part of a broader push to restore the bureau’s focus.
"Under President Trump’s leadership, we have delivered historic results in our mission to Make America Safe Again. 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. He added that he is confident 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.”
The FBI pointed a request for comment to that same post. Two people familiar with the matter told NBC News the internal email listed family reasons for the exit. MS NOW first reported Bailey’s planned departure.
Bailey’s post was never standard bureau structure. When he arrived in September 2025, he was paired with then-Deputy Director Dan Bongino in a co-deputy arrangement rarely seen at the FBI.
Bongino, a conservative podcaster and former Secret Service member, left after just under a year to return to podcasting. Career FBI special agent Chris Raia replaced him in the No. 2 slot. The co-deputy setup remained in place with Bailey still in the role until this week’s announcement.
Traditionally, the deputy director job goes to someone with deep institutional knowledge of the bureau. The dual model under Patel broke from that pattern and drew attention from the start.
Bailey had resigned as Missouri’s attorney general to take the FBI job. After roughly a year in Washington, he is heading back to Missouri.
Bailey’s exit lands as Patel continues other battles tied to his leadership. He is suing The Atlantic for $250 million over an article about his tenure at the bureau. He has also traded heated exchanges with Democratic members of Congress over how he is running the FBI.
No public word has been given on whether the co-deputy slot will be filled, left empty, or scrapped. Bailey’s statement offered no effective last day beyond the decision to step aside and return home.
What is clear is the pattern: two high-profile figures brought in under the Trump administration’s FBI overhaul have now cycled out inside a year, while the director keeps pressing a reform agenda Bailey publicly endorsed on the way out the door.
Family first is a choice voters understand. The test for the bureau is whether the reform Bailey praised outlasts the personnel churn that came with it.
