By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
If Wisconsin Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner gets his way, the ATF will be dissolved and its responsibilities dished out to other federal agencies.
Sensenbrenner introduce the ATF Elimination Act, which would hand over alcohol and tobacco cases to the DEA, while the FBI would handle firearms, explosives and arsons, the Daily Caller reports.
“Common sense budgeting solutions are necessary, and the ATF Elimination Act is one measure we can take to reduce spending, redundancy, and practice responsible governance,” said Sensenbrenner. “The ATF is a scandal-ridden, largely duplicative agency that has been branded by failure and lacks a clear mission. It is plagued by backlogs, funding gaps, hiring challenges, and a lack of leadership.”
Sensenbrenner maintains that eliminating the ATF would help “bring draining the swamp” and be in the “best interest” of taxpayers.
The Daily Caller wrote:
The bill would require the DEA and FBI to provide congress a plan for incorporating the ATF’s responsibilities, field offices, buildings and assets.
In addition to cutting the ATF, the bill would place a hiring freeze on the ATF and would require the Department of Justice, the ATF’s parent agency, to “eliminate and reduce duplicative functions and waste.”
