President Donald Trump is expected to name newly confirmed FBI director Kash Patel as the acting director of the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to sources.
Patel will run both the FBI and the ATF.
He will be expected to overhaul the ATF by moving its focus away from regulating firearms. During the election campaign, Donald Trump accused the ATF of interfering with and infringing Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired the ATF’s long-serving chief counsel, Pamela Hicks. Bondi told Fox News that she fired Hicks because “these people were targeting gun owners.”
After an Executive Order from President Trump, AG Bondi ordered the ATF to switch its focus to aiding the Department of Justice in targeting illegal immigration. Bondi will also present Trump with a plan, within 30 days, to protect the right to bear arms.
Patel will be one of a number of Trump officials to take on multiple roles. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for example, is also serving as acting administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, which Trump is seeking to incorporate into the State Department. Russ Vought, Doug Burgum and Chris Wright are also juggling more than one appointment.
At his confirmation hearing, FBI Director Patel vowed to end online censorship, reduce corruption at the agency and make sure the FBI gets “back to its core mission” by disengaging with politics.
His appointment, despite vocal opposition and “no” votes from two Republican Senators, is seen as a major blow for the deep state.