Monday, September 12, 2011
Anfrew Traver
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been criticized recently because of its Fast and Furious” tracking program that allowed guns to fall into the hands of drug cartels, leading to the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, among others. To Republican critics of ATF, Democrats have one simple retort: what do you expect from an agency that hasn’t been allowed—by GOP senators—to have a permanent director in eight years?
Since ATF was separated from the Department of the Treasury eight years ago, it has had only acting directors because two presidential administrations have been unable to get their nominees confirmed. The barrier since 2003 has been Senate Republicans, whom Democrats accuse of catering to the desires of the gun lobby and its steadfast hatred for ATF.
“They have had nothing but acting directors. Do you wonder why some things would go wrong there?” John Killorin, a retired special agent from Atlanta and president of the ATF Association, told the Los Angeles Times. “This is a major law enforcement agency, and they need a confirmed director with the full responsibility and authority to run it.”
President Barack Obama’s nominee, ATF special agent Andrew Traver, has yet to have a Senate hearing.
Before Traver there was President George W. Bush’s choice, Michael J. Sullivan, a well-regarded U.S. attorney—and ally of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft—who was denied confirmation by Idaho GOP Senators Larry Craig and Michael Crapo, who sided with gun dealers in opposing the ATF nominee.
“People said to me at the time that if Mike Sullivan can’t be confirmed, then no one was going to be confirmed,” Sullivan told the LA Times. “The agency needs a full-time leader. People there say morale is very low. They have felt abandoned because they didn’t have a leader who had the confidence of the people at the Justice Department and the White House.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Republicans Refuse to Confirm Leader for ATF Despite Its Troubles (by David Savage, Los Angeles Times)
Justice Dept. Transfers Border Patrol Murder Case Away from Phoenix (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
Andrew Traver (AllGov)
Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms: Who Is B. Todd Jones? (by Matt Bewig, AllGov)
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