WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, the Senate voted 48 to 46 to confirm Steven Dettelbach as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. This makes him the first permanent leader of this agency since 2015.
Dettelbach is a former U.S. Attorney in Ohio under the Obama administration. He will head a law enforcement agency that oversees firearms following a number of high-profile mass shootings.
Gun violence prevention advocates praised the successful vote after spending months urging President Joe Biden find an ATF leader following opposition from the gun lobby that led to the sinking last September of David Chipman’s nomination.
Kris Brown, who heads the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, stated that Steve Dettelbach, a proven leader, will lead ATF. He will catalyze the agency’s work, and help to implement President Biden’s gun violence prevention strategy.
Brown stated that “the importance of a Senate confirmed director cannot be overstated.” ATF is important for “enforcing gun laws in the nation and reducing gun trafficking and the supply firearms that fuel our nation’s violence crisis.”
Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said that the Dettelbach confirmation would “help” to implement gun laws, “because he is a law enforcement man.”
He said, “He’s no savior but I believe it’ll help.”
Some senators did not vote. Majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), whose office stated that he was working remotely this week after testing positive to Covid.
