Who is Andrew Bailey? Meet the Missouri AG who’s joining Trump’s FBI team
Less than three years ago, Andrew Bailey was a political novice. Now, the Missouri attorney general plans to resign his position and join the Trump administration as co-deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Bailey’s Monday announcement makes him the latest in a string of Missouri Republican attorneys general to parlay their role as the state’s top lawyer into a high-profile job in the federal government. His two most recent predecessors, Eric Schmitt and Josh Hawley, were both elected to the U.S. Senate.
Early career
Bailey, a 44-year-old Army veteran from Rhineland, had never held an elected office before former Gov. Mike Parson selected him in late 2022 to replace the outgoing Schmitt.
Before his appointment, Bailey served as Parson’s general counsel, rising from the deputy role he was hired for in 2019. Prior to that, he was the general counsel for the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Bailey handily defeated Democrat Elad Gross in 2024 to win a four-year term, capturing nearly 60% of the vote.
Despite his low profile entering office, Bailey made a name for himself by unleashing a torrent of attention-grabbing lawsuits challenging the Biden administration on everything from access to abortion medication to whether the president has the authority to forgive student loan debt.
When Trump took over as president, Bailey shifted gears, leveraging his legal firepower to attack Trump’s political enemies and support his agenda. In February, his office sued Starbucks, alleging that the coffee giant discriminated against white men in its hiring process.
Notable cases
Bailey also drew sharp criticism from criminal justice activists for using the power of his office to fight claims of innocence made by incarcerated people in the Missouri prison system he used to represent.
Last year, Bailey’s office argued that Sandra “Sandy” Hemme, a wrongfully imprisoned woman, should not be released from prison. Bailey’s office also attempted to block death row inmate Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams from arguing his innocence claim in court before his execution.
Bailey’s also took the unprecedented step in 2023 of seeking to overturn the conviction of Eric DeValkenaere, Kansas City’s first police officer to be found guilty in the killing of a Black man. Those efforts proved unsuccessful, but Parson commuted DeValkenaere’s sentence last December.
Bailey’s Missouri replacement
As co-deputy director of the FBI, Bailey will work alongside current deputy director Dan Bongino, serving as second-in-command to FBI Director Kash Patel under U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bailey’s appointment, which will be effective after he resigns as AG on Sept. 8, does not require Senate confirmation.
On Tuesday, Gov. Mike Kehoe picked Catherine Hanaway, a former federal prosecutor and Missouri House speaker, to replace Bailey. She will be the first woman to serve as Missouri attorney general, which is widely viewed as the second most powerful state-level position.
