Apparently, getting hired by the FBI now comes with a slightly more complicated question than “Can you keep a secret?” The bureau has quietly changed some of its hiring standards, allowing certain applicants with histories that once would have automatically disqualified them to potentially be considered for jobs.
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According to a 28 August report by CBS News, the changes were outlined in an internal memo dated 16 June. Under the revised rules, applicants who stole from an employer can still be considered for FBI employment if the theft happened more than three years ago.
That is already a sentence most job seekers probably did not expect to read about federal employment. But the updated standards get considerably stranger.
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Bestiality Is No Longer an Automatic Dealbreaker
Under the new rules, people who engaged in bestiality or animal cruelty before turning 18 may remain eligible for consideration. Applicants who hired sex workers fewer than three times can also potentially qualify if the conduct occurred more than 10 years ago. There are additional restrictions for anyone who solicited sex while occupying a position of trust.
The FBI previously treated engagement in prostitution or bestiality as automatic disqualifiers. The bureau has confirmed that some eligibility requirements have changed, while emphasizing that the circumstances are narrow and that it continues to maintain high suitability standards.
The distinction matters because meeting a revised eligibility requirement does not exactly translate to receiving an FBI badge and a desk. The bureau says applicants who technically qualify under the new rules are still not guaranteed employment.
There’s More to the Polygraph Question
The FBI has also pointed to circumstances that make the bestiality provision more complicated than the headline might suggest. An FBI spokesperson specifically referenced applicants who may have experienced sexual abuse involving animals as children, explaining that those circumstances can affect how polygraph results are evaluated.
In other words, the policy isn’t necessarily designed around a scenario where someone puts “animal cruelty” on their résumé and immediately gets ushered into Quantico. Still, the change is striking because these were previously automatic disqualifiers.
The FBI Has a Hiring Problem
The timing also helps explain why the bureau is revisiting some of its longstanding requirements.
The FBI has experienced significant personnel losses during Donald Trump’s second administration. CBS News reported that the bureau lost more than 1,000 special agents in 2025 alone, with broader staffing losses also including retirements, resignations and firings.
FBI Director Kash Patel has argued that some older hiring requirements have made it harder to recruit qualified candidates, suggesting the bureau is trying to widen its pool of potential applicants.
Which brings us to the obvious question: how much widening is too much widening?
Former Officials Aren’t Exactly Throwing Confetti
Not everyone is thrilled about the changes. James Davidson, who leads the FBI Integrity Project, argued, “Bestiality is clearly a potential indication of a more serious emotional issue, and even in a circumstance where it is not, the pool of candidates should be extensive enough that the criteria should certainly not be eliminated”
Attorney Mark Zaid was similarly unimpressed, asking, “How can this not be reflective of a recruiting problem at the FBI if you are lowering your standards on issues like bestiality and prostitution?”
Those criticisms highlight the tension at the center of the policy: the FBI wants more qualified applicants, but changing the definition of what automatically disqualifies someone can understandably raise eyebrows. And, frankly, there are few sentences more likely to make people raise both eyebrows than “The FBI has relaxed its bestiality rules.”
Lower Standards or More Nuanced Standards?
The FBI disputes the idea that it is simply throwing its standards out the window.
Patel has said the bureau needs to modernize some requirements to expand its recruiting pool, while the FBI maintains that applicants who fall within the revised eligibility rules still have to meet its broader suitability standards. So, no, this apparently isn’t the FBI announcing an open casting call for anyone with a chaotic past.
It is a narrower policy change arriving at a bureau dealing with major staffing losses and trying to recruit more people. Whether that amounts to sensible modernization or an alarming lowering of the bar is likely to remain a matter of debate.
But if nothing else, the updated rules have given job seekers a very unusual reminder: sometimes the thing standing between you and your dream career isn’t your lack of experience. It’s whatever is lurking in your teenage history.