By Eireann Van Natta, Daily Caller News Foundation | April 03, 2025
A record number of new agent applications were submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during Director Kash Patel’s first full month in his post. The bureau received 5,577 new applications in March, Fox News Digital first reported.
“Recruiting the best and bravest law enforcement personnel to serve is a top priority for Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino,” FBI spokesman Ben Williamson told the Daily Caller.
“We have much more to do, but the early success is a tribute to their leadership — and as importantly, it’s a credit to our support teams who are doing an amazing job getting our message out and making our systems more efficient.”
In April 2016, the FBI received 5,283 applications, the outlet noted. This was the most recent example of a monthly total close to the number of applications submitted in March.
Patel posted a recruitment video in March, encouraging people to apply to the FBI.
“A renewed mission. A stronger future,” he wrote.
The FBI averaged 2,797 applications a month in 2023 and 3,383 applications a month in 2024, according to FBI data obtained by Fox News Digital.
There have been more than 10,000 new agent applications to the agency since January 2025, the outlet reported.
The Senate confirmed Patel as FBI director in February, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joining Democrats in voting against him.
Dan Bongino was chosen as the FBI’s deputy director that same month.
Patel has pledged to take on politicization at the FBI and reorient the bureau towards catching criminals. He has also advocated for transparency and against government weaponization.
“America: Your new FBI is laser focused on restoring public trust, fighting violent crime, and rooting weaponization out of government institutions,” he tweeted in March from his official account.
The FBI arrested a top MS-13 leader Tuesday in Long Island, New York, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) announcement.
This came soon after law enforcement captured a top MS-13 gang member in March, according to statements during a joint press conference with Patel, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Republican Gov. Glenn Younkin of Virginia.
Patel is also the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Eireann Van Natta is an intelligence state reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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