West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) has told CNN that he will be a “yes” vote on confirming Steven Dettelbach to be the next director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
“I'm going to support him,” said Manchin. “I feel confident he'll be able to lead this extremely important (agency) and protect the people who are on the front lines, and these agents need leadership and they need someone who understands what they do and how vital their services are to our country.” (RELATED: Manchin Supports Raising Age Limit on Guns, Open to Assault Weapons Ban)
Manchin's declaration all but guarantees that Dettelbach will be confirmed to the post, following his unconventional hearing two weeks ago.
With Manchin's support, Democrats almost certainly have at least 50 votes to confirm Dettelbach. Even if they don't win over a single Republican, Vice President Kamala Harris will be able to cast a tie-breaking vote. (RELATED: Joe Manchin Comes Out in Support of Ketanji Brown Jackson)
As CNN reports:
The decision means the White House likely won't suffer another embarrassment in its efforts to fill the post, after it withdrew the nomination of David Chipman to lead the bureau last September. Chipman had faced stiff resistance among moderate Democrats and King — as well as GOP senators — over his past record on gun control. King is an independent senator who caucses with Democrats.
This time around, some Democrats had referenced the Texas elementary school shooting as well as a recent mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, to argue the necessity of quickly confirming a new ATF director.
“We cannot afford to keep saying some day in the future, somehow we will take action, I think the least we could do is deliver a Senate-confirmed leader for the ATF,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said last month.
A former federal prosecutor, Dettelbach was previously unanimously confirmed by the Senate to serve as the US attorney for the Northern District of Ohio under President Barack Obama.
The Senate last confirmed an ATF nominee in 2013, in large part to the effectiveness of gun rights groups.
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Yes, because it’s important that he understands the Agents needs, but not so much the Constitution.
you are so correct!
Senator Manchin is throwing us under the bus , where has his common sense gone ?
Pressure from a few is over taking the many
Senator Manchin, you’re voting in the wrong man for this position for all the wrong reasons. The Citizens of the United States have the right to defend themselves, but with Joe Biden as a President, I honestly believe it’s a big mistake. He wants to make sure that all of the legal weapons in the USA are removed from law abiding citizens.
Manchin has folded to the demo thugs
I am writing him off
the RINO comes forth
Unless something has changed, Manchin was and remains a democrat.
Re the seemingly done deal of the Dettelbach nomination, and “the administration not suffering another embarrassment”, much more important is the harm that law abiding Americans might suffer as a result of the Dettelbach appointment, a question that receives barely passing notice.
This most likely guarantees that we will be locked in a civil war before the next presidential election. Confiscation is the starting gun for that conflagration and will be yet another arrow to America’s heart by this communist coup. Joe Biden will be able to mark another tick on his tally of likely fatal blows he has dealt the country. Thanks Joe Manchin for all your support until now. Damn you to Hell for what is to follow. Give our regards to Joe Biden when you get there.