WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans have been upset at the management at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which authorized a botched sting operation near the Mexican border that put guns in the hands of drug criminals.
But Republican leaders, responding to complaints from gun-rights lobbyists, have refused to confirm a director for the bureau since it was split from the Treasury Department eight years ago.
“They have had nothing but acting directors. Do you wonder why some things would go wrong there?” said John Killorin, a retired special agent from Atlanta and president of the ATF Assn. “This is a major law enforcement agency, and they need a confirmed director with the full responsibility and authority to run it.”
President Obama’s nominee, an ATF special agent from Chicago, has yet to have a Senate hearing.
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