Kash Patel is now main two companies beneath the Division of Justice.
Newly appointed FBI Director Kash Patel was sworn in because the performing head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on Monday, in line with the company.
“ATF welcomes Appearing Director Kash Patel to ATF, who was sworn in and had his first go to to ATF Headquarters in Washington, D.C. at present. We’re enthusiastic to work collectively for a safer America,” the bureau mentioned in a Feb. 24 put up on social media platform X.
Patel is now main two companies beneath the Division of Justice. He was sworn in as FBI director on Feb. 22 after being confirmed by the Senate in a 51–49 vote.
He vowed to revive the FBI’s credibility and make it an company that the American folks can belief. Throughout the Senate Judiciary Committee listening to on Jan. 30, Patel mentioned that there can be “no retributive actions taken by any FBI” if he had been to be confirmed as FBI director.
Gun rights advocacy teams have anticipated that his management will result in reforms throughout the ATF. The Nationwide Rifle Affiliation (NRA) referred to as Patel’s appointment “an excellent first step” by the Trump administration towards reforming the “deeply troubled” company.
“For much too lengthy, ATF has targeted on the way it can manipulate federal statutes to limit the rights of law-abiding People,” the NRA mentioned in a press release posted to social media. “We look ahead to working with Appearing Director Patel to guard and broaden Second Modification freedoms.”
The Firearm Business Commerce Affiliation (NSSF) congratulated Patel for his appointment and urged him to maneuver shortly with finishing up President Donald Trump’s government order on defending Second Modification rights, which shield the correct to maintain and bear arms.
“Just like the FBI, the ATF was weaponized by the earlier administration. Within the case of ATF, it was to hold out a radical gun management agenda,” Lawrence Keane, NSSF senior vice chairman, mentioned in a press release.
Keane mentioned he believes that Patel’s appointment “will return the [ATF] to its correct function as a regulation enforcement company laser targeted on combatting violent crime and unlawful firearms trafficking, and to behave as a non-partisan regulator of the firearm trade.”
The ATF primarily enforces the regulation in regards to the unlawful use and trafficking of firearms, explosives, arson, and acts of terrorism, apart from licensing federal firearms sellers and tracing weapons utilized in crimes.
Underneath the earlier administration, the ATF launched a number of regulatory measures which have irked gun rights activists. Final yr, 4 Republican-led states filed a movement to stop the ATF from implementing a rule redefining who’s “engaged within the enterprise” of dealing in firearms.
Trump signed an government order on Jan. 20 to “halt present insurance policies designed to curtail the clear proper of law-abiding residents to maintain and bear arms.”
The order directs U.S. Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi to conduct a overview and suggest a plan of motion to remove rules that infringe on Second Modification rights.
On Feb. 21, Bondi eliminated ATF Chief Authorized Counsel Pamela Hicks from her put up, simply days after Trump ordered the termination of all U.S. attorneys appointed in the course of the earlier administration.
Hicks confirmed her dismissal in a social media put up, saying that she had obtained official discover from the lawyer normal of the US informing her of her removing.
Bondi had pledged throughout her affirmation listening to to place an finish to what she referred to as “the partisan weaponization” of the DOJ.
“Underneath my watch, the partisan weaponization of the Division of Justice will finish. America should have one tier of justice for all,” Bondi mentioned in her opening assertion to the Judiciary Committee on Jan. 15.
Naveen Athrappully contributed to this report.
