Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican who has been an ardent backer of President Donald Trump, stated Monday (August 18, 2025) that he’s resigning to take a management position on the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The transfer is the most recent in a collection of modifications on the FBI below Director Kash Patel. Numerous senior officers, together with top brokers in control of big-city area places of work, have been pushed out of their jobs, and Justice Department officers have sought the names of brokers who participated in investigations associated to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol.
Mr. Bailey stated he’s stepping down efficient Sept. 8 to function the FBI’s co-deputy director, alongside Dan Bongino. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe is to announce a new appointee as legal professional basic on Tuesday.
“My life has been defined by a call to service, and I am once again answering that call, this time at the national level,” Mr. Bailey stated in a assertion.
In a little over two-and-a-half years within the job, Mr,. Bailey pursued quite a few lawsuits difficult former President Joe Biden’s administration on an array of insurance policies, together with immigration actions, scholar mortgage forgiveness, environmental guidelines, gun security initiatives and transgender rights measures.
He additionally threatened authorized motion towards non-public gyms over toilet insurance policies, demanded that public colleges ban drag exhibits and sued New York state, claiming that Mr. Trump’s 2024 hush cash prison trial was “overt meddling” within the 2024 election that restricted Missouri voters’ data.
Most lately, Mr. Bailey’s workplace has defended the state’s anti-abortion laws within the face of a voter-approved constitutional modification establishing a state proper to abortion.
Earlier this yr, Mr. Bailey’s workplace gained a $24.5 billion award towards China for the COVID-19 pandemic in a case that initially was filed by his predecessor, Eric Schmitt, who gained election to the U.S. Senate in 2022.
Mr. Bailey was serving as basic counsel to Republican Gov. Mike Parson when his boss appointed him to exchange Schmitt. An Army veteran, Bailey gained a full four-year time period as legal professional basic final November.
