April 9 (UPI) — FBI Director Kash Patel no longer is the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll was appointed the ATF’s temporary director on Wednesday.
White House officials did not announce why President Donald Trump removed Patel as the leader of the ATF or why Driscoll was named acting director in his place, the Military Times and The Hill reported.
Driscoll was confirmed as Army secretary 43 days ago and will remain in that post while also serving as the acting director of the ATF. The Senate on Feb. 20 confirmed Patel as FBI director.
Patel also was the ATF’s acting director, and the ATF website still listed Patel as its acting director on Wednesday afternoon.
Patel replaced former ATF Director Steve Dettelback, who was made the agency’s permanent director in 2015 but resigned in January.
Driscoll, 38, served in the Army for four years and was deployed to Iraq in 2009.
He attended Yale Law School at the same time Vice President JD Vance attended the law school.
His position as the temporary head of the ATF enables Driscoll to lead efforts to investigate federal offenses involving firearms sales and use, plus the illegal sales of explosives, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages.
Gun violence prevention group Giffords criticized the change in leadership at the ATF.
“Acting Director Dan Driscoll … already has an important full-time job running the U.S. Army,” Giffords Executive Director Emma Brown said Wednesday in a news release.
“Stopping violent crime at the ATF requires hard work and dedication. It’s not a part-time job,” Brown said. “This administration needs to get serious about stopping gun crime. Lives are at stake.”
Although Driscoll is the temporary acting director of the ATF, Wednesday’s change in ATF leadership might herald a pending change in its structure.
Trump has said he might merge the ATF with another federal agency, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, to reduce the size of the federal government.
Another Trump administration official also is serving in dual roles.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins also is the interim leader of the Office of Government Ethics and the Office of Special Counsel, both of which are slated for reorganization.
