Wray has been in office since 2017.
FBI Director Christopher Wray is going to resign soon, the bureau said on Dec. 11, paving the way for President-elect Donald Trump’s next nominee for the position.
Wray, 57, told FBI employees during a town hall that he will step down when the current administration ends in January 2025, an FBI spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.
“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 told the employees.
“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.”
Wray is currently serving a 10-year term that started in 2017.
Trump nominated Wray during his first term in office. President Joe Biden opted to keep Wray in place during his only term in office.
Trump has nominated Kash Patel, a former federal prosecutor, to be FBI director once he enters office again on Jan. 20, 2025.
FBI directors require Senate confirmation.
Patel, 44, worked as a public defender after graduating from law school. In 2014 he transitioned into a federal prosecutor role.
During Trump’s first term, Patel helped the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee to compile evidence showing the FBI did not act properly when it investigated former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Special counsel John Durham later found that FBI agents were motivated by confirmation bias in the probe, which did not establish coordination between the campaign and Russia.
Patel later worked for the White House National Security Council. In 2020, he worked in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. And during the final months of Trump’s first term, he was the chief of staff to acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller.
Trump said when announcing his choice to lead the FBI that Patel “will work under our great Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to bring back Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity to the FBI.”
