Report: FBI Plans to Lower Its Standards

The FBI is set to lower its recruiting standards—dropping college degree requirements and cutting training time—in a controversial move that has agents worried about the future of the nation's top investigative agency, insiders tell the New York Times. The sources say the new policy that Director Kash Patel and deputy Dan Bongino are pushing for scraps the longstanding college degree requirement and slashes the FBI academy training from 18 weeks to just eight. The plan is partly in response to an anticipated wave of more than 5,000 departures, triggered by severance and early retirement offers as part of a cost-cutting drive.

The FBI, home to about 37,000 employees pre-cuts, could lose some 2,000 special agents. The changes are designed to make hiring easier—especially from other federal agencies—but many current and former agents worry the FBI's reputation for selectivity is at risk. "When you lower the standards, your mission effectiveness goes down," warns Chris O'Leary, a former senior counterterrorism official, who calls the move "generational destruction."

Critics say the shift is part of a broader effort to redirect the bureau's focus away from complex investigations like financial fraud and national security, toward tackling street crime—an approach that has frustrated agents trained for long-term, intricate work. The FBI's own association says leadership has failed to deliver on promises of due process amid a series of dismissals. Some agents, meanwhile, are being pulled from their regular duties to assist with immigration enforcement and street patrols in Washington, further straining resources.

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Earlier this week, Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey will serve as co-deputy director, an apparent first in FBI history, CNN reports. O'Leary tells the Times that there is a lack of management expertise in FBI leadership and the reduction of Bongino's role adds to concerns that the agency, lacking strong leaders, will "do the bidding of the administration, no matter what it is."