Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey Resigns to Take a Top FBI position

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican who has been an ardent backer of President Donald Trump, said Monday that he is resigning to take a leadership position at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The move is the latest in a series of changes at the FBI under Director Kash Patel. Numerous senior officials, including top agents in charge of big-city field offices, have been pushed out of their jobs, and Justice Department officials have sought the names of agents who participated in investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Bailey said he is stepping down effective Sept. 8 to serve as the FBI’s co-deputy director, alongside Dan Bongino. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe announced Catherine Hanaway as attorney general 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,” Bailey said in a statement.

In a little over two-and-a-half years in the job, Bailey pursued numerous lawsuits challenging former President Joe Biden’s administration on an array of policies, including immigration actions, student loan forgiveness, environmental rules, gun safety initiatives and transgender rights measures.

Mo Governor's Office

Former U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway was appointed Tuesday as Missouri’s next attorney general, vowing a tough-on-crime approach as her predecessor leaves for a job with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe announced Hanaway’s appointment just a day after Attorney General Andrew Bailey said he was stepping down to join President Donald Trump’s administration as the FBI’s co-deputy director. The change in Missouri’s top law enforcement job will take effect Sept. 8.

“Fighting crime is — and will remain — job one for this office” Hanaway said.

Hanaway has deep roots in Missouri politics and extensive ties as a private practice attorney to corporate clients that will cause her to recuse from some cases as attorney general.

Hanaway first won election to the Missouri House in 1998 and led the GOP takeover of the chamber in the 2002 elections as the state began a gradual transition from a political tossup to a GOP stronghold. She served as Missouri’s first and only woman House speaker before losing a bid for secretary of state in 2004. She was appointed the next year by President George W. Bush as U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Missouri, which she held until 2009.