Former U.S. Secret Service agent and conservative commentator Dan Bongino has been appointed FBI deputy director by President Donald Trump.
Trump announced the decision on Sunday night via his Truth Social platform, describing Bongino as “a man of incredible love and passion for our country.” He hailed the appointment as “great news for law enforcement and American justice.”
Bongino, 49, expressed his gratitude to Trump in a post on X, where he shared the president’s announcement. He will serve as the second-in-command under newly confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel, who was sworn in at the White House on Friday. Unlike the director position, the deputy role does not require Senate confirmation.
With both Patel and Bongino now at the helm of the FBI, concerns have arisen among Democrats that Trump could use the agency to pursue his political adversaries.
Bongino, who protected Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during his Secret Service tenure, later became a vocal figure in the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement. He has been a prominent conservative media personality, often amplifying Trump’s claims about the 2020 election.
Unlike typical appointees to senior FBI leadership, Bongino has no prior experience in the agency. However, he worked as a New York Police Department officer from 1997 to 1999 before joining the Secret Service. He also ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate seats in Maryland and Florida between 2012 and 2016.
Bongino has been a fixture on conservative media for over a decade, serving as a Fox News commentator and hosting a Saturday night show on the network from 2021 to 2023. His podcast, The Dan Bongino Show, currently ranks 56th in the U.S. on Spotify. Trump noted on Sunday that Bongino is “willing and prepared to give up” his podcast “in order to serve.”
Bongino has previously criticized the Secret Service, calling it a “failed” agency during an interview with Trump on his podcast. He urged the former president to commit to forming a commission to reform the service, referencing the two assassination attempts in the past year.
In a recent podcast episode, Bongino voiced strong support for Patel’s appointment and dismissed Democratic opposition, stating that the new director’s mission was “to clean this place up.”
Their leadership comes at a turbulent time for the FBI, as the Justice Department has recently ousted several senior officials and made an unusual request for the identities of thousands of agents involved in investigations related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Patel has signaled plans for sweeping changes at the agency, including reducing its presence in Washington and refocusing on traditional criminal investigations.ighting duties rather than the intelligence-gathering work that has come to define its mandate.
