FBI Director Wray To Step Down, U.S. Life Expectancy, DNC Seeks New Leadership
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What does a change at the top mean for the FBI? Director Christopher Wray announced he will resign next month. Shooting an insurance executive in the back produced a disturbing response about America's healthcare industry. The Democratic National Committee is meeting in Washington over the next two days to reflect on the election results and hear pitches from candidates for leadership positions.
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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Anna Yukhananov, Diane Webber, Megan Pratz, HJ Mai and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Ben Abrams. We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis and our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
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Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Today's episode of Up First was edited by Anna Yukhananov, Diane Webber, Megan Pratz, HJ Mai and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Ben Abrams. We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis and our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
"What does a change at the top mean for the FBI?" Director Christopher Ray is resigning, President-elect Trump appointed him in 2017, but now he wants a nominee who promised retribution for Trump's critics. I'm Stephen Scape with A Martinez, and this is up first from NPR News. Shooting an insurance executive in the back produced a disturbing response, and that includes real-life conversations about health care. So our correspondent pursues a question. Why do we spend so much on health care for a life expectancy that is comparatively low? And what do Democrats want from their next party chair? The Democratic National Committee is meeting in Washington over the next two days to reflect on the election results and hear pitches from candidates. Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day. We now know how the FBI director will respond to the president-elect who wants to replace him. President-elect Trump appointed Christopher Ray during his first term back in 2017, but now Trump wants to nominate a loyalist, Cash Patel, and made it clear he wants Ray to go. The director says he will step down at the end of the Biden administration next month, and three years before the end of his term. NPR Justice correspondent Ryan Lucas is covering this story, and he's come by our studios very early this morning. Ryan, good to see you. Good morning. So how did Ray explain his decision? Well, Ray made this announcement in a town hall that he had yesterday with FBI employees. And what he said is that he's given this a lot of thought, and he came to the conclusion that stepping down in January with the change in administration is the right thing to do for the FBI. He said this is the best way to avoid, as he put it dragging the bureau deeper into the fray, he also said this. This is not easy for me. I love this place. I love our mission, and I love our people. But my focus is, and always has been, on us, and on doing what's right for the FBI. Now Ray said the FBI's work is critical. That won't change. And he also said that the FBI's commitment to independence, to objectivity, and its defense of the rule of law, he says that those things must not change. Of course, Trump's critics fear that's exactly what Trump wants to change with this new appointee. What has Trump said about Ray's decision? Well, Trump was quite happy with it. He called it a great day for America, and said that Ray's departure means an end to what Trump says is the weaponization of the justice system. Now, Trump, of course, is the guy who made Chris Ray FBI director after he fired James Comey in 2017. Ray came on, tried to steady the FBI at what was a very tumultuous time. Now, this job, of course, comes with a tenure term, something that, in theory, is supposed to insulate it from partisan politics. Ray certainly defended the bureau's independence. He tried to keep it out of the political fights on Capitol Hill. But that was almost impossible to do with a sort of politically charged investigations that the FBI has been involved in over the past several years. And I'm thinking here of the Russia investigation, the investigation into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the investigation into President Biden's son, Hunter. And then, of course, there are the investigations into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, as well as his handling of mishandling of classified documents. Trump was and remains, as we noted at the top, a fierce critic of Ray and the FBI. But I have to say he's not alone. Republicans on Capitol Hill have also soured on Ray over the seven years that he's led the FBI. Some of that relates to Trump, and some of it is because of separate issues. Got it. Okay. So now the confirmation fight is over Cash Patel, the nominee to replace Ray. What are his prospects?
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