FBI Director Kash Patel has worked overtime to clean up the reputation of the federal law enforcement agency that was tained by the Biden administration, and part of that involves firing a lot of people.

However, in a rare, internal MAGA dust-up, Judge Jeanine Pirro, now the U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C., blocked Patel from firing four veteran FBI agents that were on the chopping block, citing concerns that the firings would upend any progress on their current cases, the Daily Mail reported. 

Patel's rocky relationship with Pirro comes on the heels of a somewhat similar relationship with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi over how high-profile cases like the Jeffrey Epstein case should be handled.

The four agents at risk of losing their jobs until Pirro's intervention were part of former Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into President Trump following the 2020 election.

What's going on?

Patel had been on a firing spree as of late, honing in on ridding the bureau of agents and officials who had worked on J6-related cases.

Reuters was able to identify the four agents at risk of losing their careers. They included "Jeremy Desor, Jamie Garman, Blaire Toleman and David Geist."

The Daily Mail noted:

Desor in particular was targeted in recent days on social media after Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley publicized 1,000 pages of subpoenas from Smith's investigation, which proved Trump's attempts to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election.

Many critics of the president -- and by extension, Patel -- claim that the ongoing firings are some kind of revenge being carried out by Trump's' handpicked top officials.

Notably, several other agents who were terminated to begin the week were brought back in, with their terminations rescinded after Pirro's order.

The Daily Mail noted:

Dozens of FBI agents, prosecutors and other personnel who worked on Smith's investigation or handled cases involving in the January 6 attack have been fired from the Justice Department since Trump took office.

Tensions rise

Sources reported that even before this incident, tensions were high between the FBI and the DOJ, which isn't a great look for the administration.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) had vowed to release details regarding the identities of the agents who worked J6 cases, saying "the public has a right to know how the government's spending their hard-earned tax dollars, and if agents were engaged in wrongdoing they ought to be held accountable."

Patel has clearly not had a problem firing them.

It'll be interesting to see if Patel and Pirro can come to an understanding, or if the rift between the two will continue to widen.