Tipsheet

Report: This Trump Administration Official Could Be Stepping Down Soon

Jeff Charles
Jeff Charles  |  December 17, 2025 10:45 AM

Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino is reportedly preparing to resign and go back to podcasting.

The New York Times published a report on Sunday detailing criticism against FBI Director Kash Patel over his premature announcement about apprehending the suspect who carried out the mass shooting at Brown University.

Several sources indicated that Bongino has begun clearing out his office ahead of his resignation, according to The New York Times.

The fate of Mr. Patel’s top deputy, Dan Bongino, another incendiary former podcaster and longtime Trump loyalist, appears to be more settled, though not entirely certain.

Mr. Bongino has said he plans to leave his job as soon as this week or as late as mid-January, according to three people with knowledge of his plans.

One sign it might be sooner rather than later: Mr. Bongino has been sending office knickknacks and other possessions back to Florida, where he intends to resume his lucrative career as a pro-Trump media broadcaster in time for the midterm elections, they said.

But Mr. Bongino’s departure plans, like his brief tenure at the bureau, have been steeped in vacillation and melodrama.

This month, Mr. Bongino suggested to associates that he might go out on a high note by sharing his plans to step down at a news conference announcing the capture of a suspect in the planting of pipe bombs near the party headquarters of Democrats and Republicans on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. He even went out of his way to mend fences with Attorney General Pam Bondi, whom he had accused of bungling the investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to people briefed on the exchange.

This is not the first time there has been speculation about Bongino stepping down from his position. In July, it was reported that Bongino was considering resigning over the handling of the Epstein Files.

Bongino and Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly had a “tense clash” after Bondi promised to release Epstein’s client list. She later claimed that “no such list exists.”

A source told Axios that Bongino and Bondi had a fiery meeting where “Pam said her piece. Dan said his piece. It didn’t end on friendly terms.” 

However, both Bongino and Bondi indicated they planned to remain in their positions.