Dan Bongino entered the FBI's senior leadership in March 2025 after years as a conservative broadcaster and outspoken critic of the bureau, creating an unusually sharp transition from political media to one of the nation's most powerful law-enforcement posts.
In his final broadcasts before taking the job, Bongino said his new position required him to leave partisan commentary behind. “I have to stay out of the political space because it's the right thing to do and it's the rules,†he said, adding that he was not going to the bureau “to be some partisan.â€
His arrival as deputy director placed him alongside Kash Patel, whom President Donald Trump had nominated to lead the FBI. Patel was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in as the FBI's ninth director on February 21, 2025, according to the bureau.
An Unconventional Choice for the FBI's No. 2 Position
Bongino came to the job with law-enforcement experience but no previous service inside the FBI. He had worked as a New York City police officer and later as a U.S. Secret Service agent before entering politics and media.
Trump publicly announced Bongino's selection on February 23, 2025. Unlike the FBI director, who requires presidential nomination and Senate confirmation, the deputy director is an appointed bureau leadership position that does not require Senate confirmation.
The choice represented a significant break with recent practice. FBI deputy directors had generally risen through the bureau and brought decades of internal experience to the job. Bongino, by contrast, had never worked for the FBI before becoming its second-ranking official.
He replaced acting deputy director Robert C. Kissane, a veteran FBI official who had temporarily occupied the position during the leadership transition.
Bongino had built a large political-media following through his podcast and radio work. He repeatedly supported Trump and sharply criticized previous FBI leadership and investigations, including investigations involving Trump. Those statements made his promise to separate his new government responsibilities from his earlier political commentary especially significant.
Patel Began Reshaping the Bureau
The leadership transition was occurring alongside broader changes initiated by Patel. Soon after taking office, Patel moved to reduce the concentration of FBI personnel in Washington and increase staffing elsewhere in the country.
Plans discussed during the early weeks of his tenure included relocating hundreds of employees from the Washington area and returning some agents serving temporary headquarters assignments to their home field offices. Supporters of decentralization argued that putting more personnel in field offices could strengthen investigations outside Washington. Critics and some former officials warned that rapid transfers could disrupt institutional knowledge and established career-development paths.
The changes reflected Patel's publicly stated intention to alter the bureau's management and priorities. At his swearing-in, he promised “accountability within the FBI and outside of the FBI†and said the bureau would operate under constitutional oversight. The FBI's official biography of Patel describes his previous work as a public defender, Justice Department national-security prosecutor, congressional staff member, National Security Council official and Defense Department chief of staff.
Leadership Turnover Raised Questions Inside the FBI
The restructuring followed a period of substantial personnel turnover at the FBI and Justice Department. Several senior bureau officials left or were removed during the transition to the second Trump administration, reducing the number of longtime executives available to the new leadership team.
Among them was James Dennehy, the experienced agent who headed the FBI's New York Field Office. His departure became one of the most visible examples of the leadership changes taking place during Patel's first weeks as director.
The significance of those departures was debated inside and outside the bureau. Critics said losing veteran executives could weaken institutional continuity. The administration and Patel, meanwhile, presented the wider overhaul as part of an effort to change an agency that Trump and his allies had repeatedly accused of political bias.
Those allegations have themselves been politically contested. FBI officials have long maintained that investigative decisions are governed by evidence, Justice Department rules and federal law, while Republicans have cited investigations involving Trump and other conservatives as evidence that reforms were necessary.
A More Public-Facing FBI Director
Patel also adopted a highly visible public profile. He promoted FBI operations through social media, appeared at law-enforcement events and emphasized cooperation with state and local authorities.
During his early weeks in office, reports also emerged that Patel had discussed possible cooperation between the FBI and the Ultimate Fighting Championship on martial-arts training. The proposal attracted attention because both Patel and Bongino were publicly associated with the sport, although discussion of a possible partnership was not the same as implementation of a formal FBI program.
Patel attended the March 7, 2025 graduation of a new FBI agent class at Quantico, Virginia, and later traveled to Las Vegas for a UFC event. His approach differed visibly from the lower-profile public style traditionally associated with some previous FBI directors.
Patel Also Rejected a Claim Popular in Conservative Media
One early episode illustrated that the new leadership would not automatically endorse claims circulating among Trump supporters.
A report involving an FBI undercover operation had prompted claims that a female agent had acted as a “honeypot†against Trump or people associated with him. Patel publicly rejected that characterization.
“A female agent was falsely referenced in the media this week as part of an alleged whistleblower disclosure — she was NOT a honeypot,†Patel wrote.
That response was notable because Patel had spent years criticizing aspects of the FBI's handling of investigations involving Trump. In this instance, however, he disputed a claim promoted by some conservative commentators rather than repeating it.
Why Bongino's Appointment Mattered
The central issue surrounding Bongino's arrival was not whether political appointees could hold senior government positions; presidents routinely install officials who share their policy priorities. The unusual feature was the combination of Bongino's lack of FBI experience, his highly partisan media background and his previous attacks on the institution he was now helping to run.
The FBI occupies a distinctive position because it investigates federal crimes, counterintelligence threats, terrorism, public corruption and other matters that can involve elected officials and politically sensitive subjects. Maintaining confidence that those investigations are conducted according to law rather than partisan preference has therefore been a recurring concern under administrations of both parties.
For Bongino, the practical test of his promise to leave partisan politics behind would come through his actions in office rather than his earlier rhetoric. For Patel, the challenge was to carry out the restructuring he had promised while preserving the bureau's investigative capabilities and public credibility.
Later Developments
Bongino's tenure ultimately proved relatively short. By 2026, he was no longer serving as deputy director. FBI materials describing operations conducted the previous year refer to him as “then Deputy Director Dan Bongino.â€
Career FBI official Christopher Raia later moved into senior bureau leadership. Raia had joined the FBI as a special agent in 2003 and held multiple counterterrorism and field-office leadership assignments; the bureau identified him as a co-deputy director in 2026.
Patel, meanwhile, remained FBI director in 2026. The transition that began with his confirmation and Bongino's arrival in early 2025 therefore marked the start of a broader reorganization whose leadership structure continued to evolve after Bongino left the deputy director's post.
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