The Trump administration removed FBI Director Kash Patel as the interim head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, replacing him with Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, according to two sources familiar with the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter.
Driscoll will simultaneously hold both the top roles at ATF and the Army. It’s an unusual set-up that Patel also had, serving as both FBI director and acting ATF director.
The people familiar with the adjustments said they were not informed about why the Trump administration made the change.
A spokesman for the Justice Department — which oversees the ATF — did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The relatively small law enforcement entity of 5,000 people has bubbled into a political juggernaut, touted by Democrats as critical to combating gun violence and accused by Republicans of trying to overregulate firearms. ATF works with local law enforcement to solve gun crimes and is responsible for regulating the sales and licensing of firearms based on laws passed by Congress.
Since being tapped as the interim ATF director in late February, Patel has been a largely absent leader and only showed up to the agency’s headquarters once, The Washington Post reported last month.
President Donald Trump has not yet nominated a permanent person for the role and has not indicated whether he will. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche last month proposed merging the ATF with the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to a memo to Justice Department leaders obtained by The Washington Post. Critics of the idea fear that it would lead to a reduction in ATF staffing.
Patel also said last month that he would pull 150 ATF agents from their typical duties and deploy them to work on border-related duties.
As Army secretary, Driscoll shapes policies for the military’s largest service, with more than 400,000 active-duty soldiers, including personnel and recruitment.
The Senate confirmed Driscoll as army secretary in February. An Iraq War veteran, Driscoll has promised to push the Army onto the cutting edge of 21st century warfare.
