Kash Patel, appointed by President Donald Trump as both FBI Director and interim head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), has reportedly been absent from his ATF leadership role since a brief introductory visit in February, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.
After his appointment, Patel made an initial stop at ATF headquarters in Washington, DC, posing for photos and meeting with career officials. However, he has not returned since, nor has he maintained regular communication with the agency's 5,000 employees, sources told The Washington Post. In Patel's absence, longtime ATF official Marvin G. Richardson has been informally overseeing day-to-day operations.
ATF is tasked with enforcing federal legislation that regulates the sale and licensing of firearms, and supporting local investigations into crimes involving firearms. The agency is often criticized by firearm advocates as a partisan agency undermining second amendment rights, while proponents defend it as critical to protecting Americans from gun violence.
"We want the ATF to be equipped with enough agents and resources to protect America from violent crime," Emma Brown, executive director of GIFFORDS gun advocacy group told The Post. "Putting someone in charge of it who has a full-time job somewhere else is not how you treat a serious law enforcement agency."
The leadership vacuum comes amid significant uncertainty about ATF's future, with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche floating a proposal to merge it with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)—a move that gun-control advocates fear would lead to staffing reductions. Meanwhile, Patel has reportedly considered shifting ATF agents to border enforcement.
"We would like to have ATF disbanded, that is the last step actually, not the first step," said Luis Valdes, a former law enforcement officer turned spokesman for Gunowners of America. "The bigger issue is all the laws on the book."
Amidst the uncertainty, ATF agents continue to respond to crime scenes nationwide, with some assigned to a task force announced by Attorney General Pam Bondi to focus on Tesla vandalism. The task force is a coordination between the FBI and ATF addressing what the administration has referred to as politically motivated terror attacks targeting Elon Musk's company.
The lack of direction at ATF coincides with broader Trump administration efforts to restructure or eliminate certain federal agencies. With Patel largely absent and no mention of potential nominees for a permanent director, the ATF's future remains in limbo.
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