The FBI received a record number of new agent applications in Director Kash Patel’s first full month leading the bureau, with the flood of law enforcement job-seekers nearly doubling the monthly average since 2016.
There were 5,577 new FBI agent applications submitted in March, Fox News Digital has learned.
The last time the bureau saw a monthly figure even close to that number was April 2016, with 5,283 applications.
By comparison, the monthly average in 2023 was 2,797 applications, with 3,383 applications per month in 2024, according to FBI data reviewed by Fox News Digital.
“Director Patel and Deputy Director (Dan) Bongino have put a major emphasis on restoring confidence in federal law enforcement and boosting new agent recruiting,” FBI spokesman Ben Williamson told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “These record early returns certainly suggest the new FBI is heading in the right direction.”
Since January, the FBI has seen more than 10,000 new agent applications, according to FBI data.