Who is Dan Bongino, and What Does His Appointment as Deputy Director of the FBI Mean for the Agency’s Future?

As the new and controversial Deputy Director of the FBI assumes responsibility, his past experiences and statements, as well as future plans for the agency should be questioned.

On February 23rd, 2025, President Trump appointed the MAGA loyalist, talk-show host, and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino as Deputy Director of the FBI — an unprecedented and polarizing decision (however, it must be noted that unprecedented has become the norm for this administration). 

The position of Deputy Director entails the management of day-to-day law enforcement operations and the supervision of domestic and international operations. In the FBI’s 117-year history, this position has never been filled by a non-career agent– thus, Dan Bongino and President Trump have broken a longstanding and intentional tradition. Not only has he never worked in the FBI, but Bongino has been a staunch critic of the agency. In 2023, on a segment for his podcast, Bongino unleashed his unfiltered thoughts about the institution for which he now works, saying that, “the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the single most corrupt law enforcement institution in America” and a “full-blown leftist political action committee” devoted to covering up Democratic crimes and withholding the truth from the American people.“It is time for an absolute house cleaning,” he concluded. 

(The Dan Bongino Show official poster from NewsTalk)

According to an article published by NPR, “Bongino worked for the New York Police Department from 1997 through 1999, before joining the Secret Service. He began doing commentary on Fox News more than a decade ago and had a Saturday night show with the network from 2021 to 2023. He is now a host of The Dan Bongino Show, one of the most popular podcasts.”

Additionally, Bongino ran as a Republican candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Maryland in 2012 and for congressional seats in 2014 and 2016 in Maryland and Florida. He lost all three races.

Alongside being generally underqualified for his new government position, Bongino has been aggressively outspoken against the Left. He has taken to social media and his own talk show, The Dan Bongino Show, to insult and belittle the members, ideologies, and policies of the Democratic Party. Furthermore, throughout the 2020 and 2024 presidential election cycles, Bongino was a part of the Make America Great Again media campaign, spreading the rhetoric of misinformation spouted by Donald Trump’s campaign. 

(Photograph: screengrab from Dan Bongino’s verified X account)

And, while free speech is enshrined within the Constitution’s First Amendment, the issue of the FBI’s political impartiality is blatantly relevant to this situation. The appointments of Bongino and FBI director Kash Patel, both zealous supporters of Trump and “Trumpian” policy, raise broader questions about the future of the agency and, specifically, its relationship with the Executive Branch of government. So, at a time when public trust in institutions is at a low point, the bureau’s leadership choices are likely to have significant ramifications for its credibility and effectiveness.

Bongino is serving directly under Trump ally Kash Patel, a man who has emphatically declared his desire to reshape the FBI. While some change in the agency is not cause for concern, the direction this change seems to be moving suggests strong and loyal ties to the executive branch — a stark shift from the historically political impartial system. With a Deputy Director who has previously called for the abolishment of the FBI working alongside a Director who plans to utterly gut the traditional functions of the agency, we should be watching closely to see how the future of the FBI will unfold.