Democrats are expressing disappointment at FBI Director Christopher Wray’s decision to step down, arguing the move allows President-elect Trump to speed the law enforcement agency’s transformation and skirt accountability for forcing the director out.
“I think he should have forced Trump to fire him because by stepping down he sort of took the onus off Trump for breaking with the tradition and the policy of having FBI directors serve 10 year terms,” Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), a former prosecutor and House Judiciary member, told The Hill.
“There’s this precedent now for FBI directors stepping down when a new president comes in. And that's not how this should work.”
Trump turned to Wray, a lifelong Republican, to lead the FBI after firing predecessor James Comey. But he has since soured on the director since nominating him for a role that would otherwise end in 2027.
Trump signaled his plans to boot him in announcing a new pick to lead the agency, Kash Patel, a loyalist who has echoed the president-elect’s calls for retribution.
Democrats with oversight of the Justice Department are expressing their unhappiness with Wray’s decision.
“I'm disappointed, because I would much prefer to have continuity and viability in that office, before someone like Kash Patel gets his hands on it,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), expressing alarm at Trump’s nominee by referencing a children’s book written by Patel.
“It's about King Donald. The hero is a guy named Kash who valiantly rises to the defense of King Donald, who's being besieged by Hillary Queenton. This is the guy who's going to be the director of the FBI if Donald Trump has his way,” added Raskin, who is set to take over as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.
Patel has also written another book called “Government gangsters,” in which he includes an appendix that lists 60 people he calls “Members of the Executive Branch Deep State.” It’s a group that includes Wray and other current and former Justice Department officials as well as whistleblower Alexander Vindman, whose disclosures sparked Trump’s first impeachment.
In fundraising emails from his foundation, Patel has said the group “must be held accountable and exposed in 2024.”
While Trump has said he will not direct Patel to initiate any investigations, he said during an appearance on NBC’s "Meet The Press" that if “somebody was dishonest or crooked or a corrupt politician, I think he probably has an obligation to do it.”
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) said Thursday morning that Wray should have forced Trump to fire him.
“I understand why a nonpartisan FBI director who believes in the rule of law, who believes in the institution would not want to be a distraction for the agency and the work that they do. But we're in different times now, and I wish he had stuck it out to make it difficult for Donald Trump to fire his second FBI director when they have a 10-year term for a reason,” he told The Hill.
“And because of what Donald Trump is threatening to do with the FBI, what his nominee, Kash Patel, would do, it's really important that everybody who has a position of significance or a position in the federal government continues to do their job to uphold the rule of law, because that's under attack right now, and so yes, I wish he had stayed as long as he possibly could,” he added.
“He left an opportunity to save the bureau, rather than protect it, by resigning now.”
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) praised Wray for “withstanding immense pressure from the president-elect and his acolytes to politicize and weaponize the agency” and cautioned against Patel’s nomination without naming him directly.
“While I am disappointed to see Director Wray step down before the conclusion of his term—which risks normalizing any President’s desire to fire FBI directors at will—it is becoming clear that there is little room for principled leaders of his ilk in Trump’s new regime,” Himes said in a statement Wednesday.
“I hope that, in confirming his successor, my colleagues in the Senate will demand a candidate who is fiercely committed to apolitical law enforcement that follows the facts and the law, not the whims of political leaders.”
Wray didn’t name Trump directly in announcing his decision to leave his post as President Biden exits office.
Instead, he told agents during a town hall that the move was “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.”
It was a decision celebrated by Republicans, who have been critical of Wray and even called for his ouster.
Just days ahead of Wray’s announcement, incoming Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) had said the director should step down “for the good of the country.”
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), a former federal prosecutor, said Wray made the right decision.
“It's very foreseeable that Trump's going to want his own FBI director. Traditionally, it's a 10-year appointment, but I think given the political climate, it was very foreseeable, and I think he did the honorable thing rather than, you know, a big battle that he was gonna lose,” McCaul said.
“I think he just wanted to go out gracefully,” McCaul said, noting his own recent move to step down as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. “It’s OK to give up power every now and then.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a Judiciary member, also said it was the right choice.
“I mean, he should resign, and the president should be able to pick the FBI director, and so rock and roll,” Roy said.
“The new president's coming in, it's time for a change, and it's up to the president to pick the FBI director. And I think Director Wray recognized that, and the president was already moving forward, and I think it was the right decision for the country.”
But for Raskin, Wray’s move violated a principle forwarded by a historian who has studied authoritarian regimes.
“The first thing that occurred to me was Tim Snyder's No. 1 rule in ‘On Tyranny,’ which was, do not obey in advance,” Raskin said, referencing Snyder’s book.
“So he acted in a way that undoubtedly pleased Trump and his people.”
