By Steve Neavling
President Biden plans to pick a new nominee to lead the ATF after his previous nomination fell short in the Senate last year, Politico reports.
The nominee is former U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach, a Democrat who has advocated for reinstating the assault weapons ban and universal background checks on firearms purchases.
Dettelbach served as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio from 2009 to 2016. He ran an unsuccessful campaign to serve as attorney general in Ohio in 2018.
He has been working in the private sector for BakerHostetler, serving as co-leader of the firm’s national Whte Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations team.
Dettelbach is married with two children.
Biden’s first pick to lead the ATF, David Chipman, couldn’t get enough votes in the Senate for confirmation. The National Rifle Association and National Shooting Sports Foundation were putting up a fight to stop Chipman’s nomination and have spent more than $4 million in radio and TV ads in the home states of moderate Democrats and Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine.
The ATF’s acting director, Marvin G. Richardson, has been accused by gun control advocates of cozying up to the gun industry.
