By Steve Neavling
FBI Director Kash Patel, who is also serving as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, is moving forward with a plan to reassign as many as 1,000 ATF agents to the FBI, slashing the agency’s workforce by more than a third, according to three people briefed on the matter, CNN reports.
The proposal marks a significant reduction to the ATF, a longtime target of gun rights groups that argue the agency infringes on Second Amendment rights. The ATF currently employs about 2,600 agents and more than 5,000 staff — a number that has remained largely unchanged in recent years.
The first phase of the plan is expected to reassign a few hundred ATF agents to work on border-related criminal investigations under the FBI, one person familiar with the plan said.
After CNN published details of the proposed restructuring, the plan drew swift criticism, including from Republican allies. A U.S. official said FBI leaders began walking back parts of the proposal in response to the pushback.
An ATF spokeswoman denied that agents were being reassigned to the FBI. She said the agency was temporarily moving about 150 agents to different ATF field offices to support efforts at the southern border.
“It is important to clarify that this is a temporary reassignment of resources to bolster public safety and combat criminal organizations more effectively. Additionally, ATF routinely initiates surge operations in cities across the country facing significant increases in violent crime,” ATF spokeswoman Ashlee J L Sherrill said in a statement to CNN. “These targeted operations are a proven strategy to disrupt criminal activity, apprehend offenders, and support local law enforcement efforts.”
Still, a person familiar with the matter said up to 1,000 ATF agents would ultimately be temporarily reassigned as FBI agents, though there’s no timeline for when or if they would return to the ATF.
The FBI declined to comment. The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.
