How long do FBI directors normally serve? What to know as Wray announces resignation

FBI Director Christopher Wray announced he will resign in advance of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration — meaning he will depart from the bureau about three years before his term ends.

Wray’s decision, which was revealed on Dec. 11, came shortly after Trump nominated Kash Patel — a strong supporter of his — to lead the FBI.

“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, who was nominated by Trump in 2017, told his colleagues, according to The Associated Press.

Trump celebrated the move, writing in a post on Truth Social that Wray’s resignation “is a great day for America as it will end the Weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice.”

Amid these developments, here is what to know about FBI directors and their tenureships.

Who appoints the FBI director?

During the early years of the FBI, the attorney general was charged with choosing the bureau’s director, who was not constrained by term limits.

However, in 1968, Congress passed a law establishing that the president would appoint the director, who would require Senate confirmation.

“By that point the FBI was considered important enough to warrant an executive appointment,” Douglas Charles, a history professor at Pennsylvania State University Greater Allegheny, who researches the FBI, told McClatchy News. “Before then, attorneys general hired and fired them.”

How long is the FBI director’s term?

In 1976, Congress passed a law permitting the FBI director to serve one 10-year term.

The law “stemmed directly from the fact that J. Edgar Hoover was entrenched as director for 48 years,” Charles said.

Hoover led the intelligence agency from 1924 to 1972, during which time he amassed significant powers, he said. As a result, the law sought to prohibit anyone else from following in his footsteps.

Hoover wasn’t the only impetus for the term limit, though.

“This law came, as well, in the wake of Watergate where President Nixon tried to have his own man, his own lackey, L. Patrick Gray, become FBI director,” Charles said. So, the law “sought to isolate the FBI from White House political influence.”

Do most directors stay on for 10 years?

There have been 12 directors — including acting directors — since the 10-year term limit was established, and nearly all of them left office before their term ended, according to FBI records.

For example, Clarence Kelley, who was nominated by Nixon, led the agency for about five years between 1973 and 1978.

Similarly, Louis Freeh, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton, helmed the agency for about eight years between 1993 and 2001.

The only director to stay on for a full term was Robert Mueller, who was in office for 12 years.

President George W. Bush nominated Mueller to head the FBI in 2001, and in 2011, before his term ended, President Barack Obama asked Congress to pass legislation extending his term for two more years — which it did.

“The United States faces ongoing threats from terrorists intent on attacking us both at home and abroad, and it is crucial that the FBI have sustained, strong leadership to confront that threat,” Attorney General Eric Holder said at the time. “There is no better person for that job than Bob Mueller.”

Have any FBI directors been fired?

“Only two FBI directors were outright fired,” Charles said.

The first was William Sessions, whom Clinton dismissed in 1993 after learning the director had been accused of misusing FBI resources. Specifically, he had been accused of using a government airplane for personal reasons, installing a fence around his house using government funds and failing to pay taxes on an FBI limousine, according to ABC News.

Twenty-four years later, in 2017, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey amid a bureau investigation into whether Trump’s campaign had colluded with the Russian government.

At the time, Trump said Comey’s ouster was required to bring back “public trust and confidence” in the FBI, according to The Associated Press.

“There have been other FBI directors who resigned in the past after improprieties or scandals surfaced,” Charles said. “I call these Washington, D.C., ‘firings’ where they were quietly asked to resign or just stepped aside.”

One of these was L. Patrick Gray, who became acting director following the death of Hoover in 1972.

He resigned in 1973 after it was disclosed that he had destroyed incriminating White House documents related to the Watergate scandal, according to The Guardian.

Gray’s successor, Kelley, also left office early following a scandal. Following the election in 1976, it was revealed that FBI carpenters did construction on his home, costing a total of $355, Charles said.

“In the wake of Hoover and Watergate this was seen as a scandal,” he said. “By our standards today it is small potatoes.”

President Jimmy Carter, who was inaugurated in 1977, ended up making a deal with Kelley, in which he would step down after one year, Charles said.

This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 4:34 PM with the headline "How long do FBI directors normally serve? What to know as Wray announces resignation."