President Donald Trump's new administration initiated a major shake-up at the FBI on Friday, by reassigning or demoting some of the bureau's top brass, and firing other key members of the agency.

The shake-up comes as Trump looks to install Kash Patel as the bureau's next director, who is still going through the formal Senate confirmation process. Patel has promised to bring integrity, transparency and honesty back to the FBI. 

One source told The Hill that agents who worked on the classified documents and Jan. 6 investigation were escorted out of the Washington Field Office, and other officials in charge of the Miami, Seattle, New Orleans and Las Vegas field offices were also vacated. 

Some of the top officials who have been in the agency for years are looking to retire, instead of waiting to be forcibly removed, according to Politico. President Trump said he has not made any of the firing decisions personally, but that if people were fired, it was a good thing.

Although Trump responded favorably, congressional Democrats and the FBI Agents Association slammed the news.

“If true, these outrageous actions by acting officials are fundamentally at odds with the law enforcement objectives outlined by President Trump and his support for FBI Agents,” the association said in a statement. “Dismissing potentially hundreds of Agents would severely weaken the Bureau’s ability to protect the country from national security and criminal threats and will ultimately risk setting up the Bureau and its new leadership for failure.”

Although some of the employees have been terminated or demoted, the actual process of firing an FBI agent typically takes at least six to nine months and requires the bureau to prove serious misconduct by the agent, a lawyer advising people involved told Politico. 

The full number of FBI officials and agents who have been dismissed, demoted, or reassigned so far, was not immediately clear.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.