FBI leaders celebrated record-high agent application numbers in Director Kash Patel’s first full month leading the agency.
“The work is only beginning — but this FBI is letting good cops be cops, and more and more brave men and women are seeking to be apart of it,” Patel shared on X. “Our team is doing an outstanding job finding the best of the best.”
Fox News Digital reported that in March, the agency saw its largest number of applicants ever, with 5,577 new FBI agent applications submitted last month. By comparison, the agency saw a monthly average of 3,383 applicants in 2024 and an average of 2,797 applicants per month in 2023.
August 2016, at 5,283, was the most recent year in which applications were close to reaching March’s figure.
Trump tapped Patel to lead the FBI in late November, and he was confirmed on Feb. 20. Since January, there have been more than 10,000 new agent applications.
“Today is April 2nd, and it’s a bad day to be a bad guy,” Dan Bongino, deputy FBI director, shared on X, quoting the outlet’s report. “A record number of brave American men and women are stepping up to join the renewed mission of this FBI.”
The influx in applications comes as Patel is making significant changes to how the agency operates. In the middle of last month, Patel ordered that all top agents will no longer report to the deputy director, instead naming acting branch managers to whom agents would report.
During Patel’s confirmation hearing, he was highly critical of the FBI, sharing that there is an “erosion of trust” in the institution. He pointed to a poll in which “40% of Americans hold a favorable view of the FBI.”
“This must change,” Patel testified. “Public cooperation is vital for the bureau to solve crimes, and its declining reputation is already affecting recruitment efforts.”
Patel was particularly critical of the FBI’s investigations into the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, as it was one of the largest investigation in the agency’s history, with over 5,000 agents on the case.
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Last month, the FBI released a 30-second recruitment video that included Patel working alongside agents.
The video concludes with the phrase “A renewed mission. A stronger future.”