FBI Director Christopher Wray announced on Wednesday that he will resign in January before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
"After weeks of careful thought, I've decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down," Wray told bureau employees in remarks released by the FBI.
Trump, who is to be sworn in as president on January 20, has announced the nomination of staunch loyalist Kash Patel to replace Wray as the head of the top US law enforcement agency.
Wray was appointed by Trump in 2017 but the incoming president has since soured on the FBI director.
Wray had three more years remaining in his 10-year term but faced potentially being fired when Trump takes office.
In an interview over the weekend with "Meet the Press," Trump said he was "very unhappy with the things (Wray's) done," citing the 2022 FBI raid on his Florida home to recover top secret documents taken from the White House.
"He invaded my home," Trump said.
At least one prominent Republican lawmaker, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, lauded Wray's decision. Greassley had publicly urged Wray to move on for the good of the country just two days ago.
In a statement, he said: “Wray’s departure is an opportunity for a new era of transparency and accountability at the FBI. Future FBI Directors ought to learn a lesson from Wray’s mistakes. Stonewalling Congress, breaking promises, applying double standards and turning your back on whistleblowers is no longer going to cut it.”
Wray, in his remarks to the FBI workforce, said that stepping down "is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work."
"When you look at where the threats are headed, it's clear that the importance of our work -- keeping Americans safe and upholding the Constitution -- will not change," he said. "And what absolutely cannot, must not change is our commitment to doing the right thing, the right way, every time.
"Our adherence to our core values, our dedication to independence and objectivity, and our defense of the rule of law -- those fundamental aspects of who we are must never change," the FBI director said.
Patel, a former Trump adviser and Pentagon official, has been critical of the bureau and is known for his controversial views.
A fierce defender of the incoming president, Patel supports the Republican hardliner notion of an anti-Trump "deep state" of allegedly biased government bureaucrats working to stifle Trump from behind the scenes, even having written a book on the subject.
A son of Indian immigrants, Patel served in several high-level posts during Trump's first term including as a national security advisor and as chief of staff to the acting defense secretary.
"Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator and 'America First' fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People," Trump said in announcing Patel's nomination last month.
Newsmax contributed to this report.