FBI Director James Comey announced McCabeâs appointment on Thursday.
McCabe began at the FBI as a special agent in 1996 before he took the supervisory special agent role at the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force in 2003.
He became the unit chief of FBI Headquarters in 2006 and later moved into the role of assistant section chief for International Terrorism Operations Section I, with responsibility in the FBIâs counterterrorism investigations.
McCabe later served as assistant special agent in charge of the Washington Field Officeâs Counterterrorism Division in 2008 and as the first director of the High-Value Interrogation Group in 2009.
He was promoted to executive assistant director for the FBIâs National Security Branch in October 2003 after serving as assistant director of the FBI counterterrorism division since 2012.
McCabe was a practicing lawyer before joining the FBI.