Democracy Dies in Darkness

Trump says he will replace FBI Director Wray with loyalist Kash Patel

Because FBI directors serve 10-year terms, Trump would have to fire Wray — or Wray would have to resign — for Patel to take over the bureau.

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Kash Patel speaks during an interview on the second day of the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2023. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
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President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he planned to replace FBI Director Christopher A. Wray with Kash Patel, a move that would install a staunch loyalist atop an agency Trump has repeatedly criticized.

This pick — which cannot happen unless Trump fires Wray or the FBI director steps down before the end of his 10-year term — comes as the president-elect has rolled out appointments and proposed nominations that appear aimed at putting his political allies in key positions where officials and agencies had contradicted or angered him in the past.