White House withdraws Chipman’s ATF chief nomination over Senate opposition

 The Joe Biden administration announced the withdrawal of the nomination of a gun-control advocate David Chipman as the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives on Thursday after it ran into bipartisan opposition in the Senate.

Chipman’s nomination has always been a contentious one and had stalled for months. The White House and Democrat leadership had been pushing to save his nomination for weeks but could not gather enough support, even from within the party. Some Democrats had privately said that they would not vote for him.

President Joe Biden came out to blame Republicans for the nomination not going through.

“He would have been an exemplary director of the ATF. Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress have made clear that they intend to use gun crime as a political talking point instead of taking serious steps to address it. That’s why they’ve moved in lockstep to block David Chipman’s confirmation,” Biden said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.

Chipman is a former federal agent and adviser at the gun control group Giffords. He won praise from advocates for his work pushing for greater regulation and enforcement on ghost guns, overhauling the background check system, and moves to reduce the trafficking of illegal firearms.

“I knew this confirmation process would be difficult, and while ultimately we weren’t successful, it remains essential that ATF is led by a confirmed director who is accountable to the public and places no special interests before the safety of our children and our communities,” Chipman was quoted as saying by AP.

The withdrawal continues a pattern for Republican and Democratic administrations who have failed to get nominees through the politically fraught process since the director’s position was made confirmable in 2006. Since then, only one nominee, former US Attorney B Todd Jones has been confirmed. Jones made it through the Senate in 2013 but only after a six-month struggle. Jones was acting director when then-President Barack Obama nominated him in January 2013.

The nomination of Chuck Canterbury, a former president of the Fraternal Order of Police, by then-President Donald Trump was withdrawn in 2020 over Republican concerns about his gun rights stance.

(With AP inputs)