Senate Judiciary Committee ties on Biden nominee to lead ATF
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked on President Joe Biden’s pick to be the nation’s top gun regulator amid efforts to pass legislation following a wave of mass shootings across the country.
Democratic leadership still plans to bring to the floor the nomination of Steven Dettelbach, the former prosecutor picked to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, after the 11-11 vote along party lines.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would start the process to advance Mr. Dettelbach’s nomination on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon. Confirming Mr. Dettelbach in the role would be “one of my top priorities,” Mr. Schumer said.
Mr. Dettelbach got the backing of key moderates and appears to have the votes for confirmation to become the agency’s first permanent director since 2015.
Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Mr. Dettelbach’s nomination was an important part of Mr. Biden’s broader effort to curb gun violence.
“I cannot overstate the importance of having Senate-confirmed leadership at the top of the ATF for stability and for responsiveness for accountability for agency morale,” Mr. Durbin said.
Mr. Dettelbach’s confirmation hearing occurred the day after a gunman at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killed 19 students and two teachers, which kickstarted congressional efforts to address gun violence.
A bipartisan group of senators, including Texas Republican John Cornyn, negotiated after agreeing to a framework that includes beefed up criminal background checks for those under age 21 and grants for state “red flag” gun seizure laws, mental health and school security provisions.
Mr. Cornyn, along with all other Republicans on the panel, voted against Mr. Dettelbach’s nomination Thursday. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said he had problems with Mr. Dettelbach’s position on gun control provisions.
Following the tied vote, Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy said one GOP senator “who I will not name, told me yesterday he would ‘pass’ on this.’” Mr. Leahy said he was “disappointed,” but that the GOP senator “has a right to change his mind.”
Mr. Leahy also invoked the currently fragile bipartisan Senate talks around a legislative framework to address gun violence announced over the weekend.
“I think that it makes a mockery of the discussion that, ‘We’re certainly going to do something to stop gun violence, but we can’t vote to have the head of ATF,’” Mr. Leahy said.
Mr. Biden pulled his first nominee to the position, David Chipman, last year after Mr. Chipman’s gun control advocacy drew criticism from conservatives and some Democrats.
The agency has only had one Senate-confirmed director, B. Todd Jones, since a 2006 law made it subject to Senate confirmation. Mr. Jones left the agency in 2015, and it has gone without a permanent director since.