The backing appears to pave the way for the nominee, Steven Dettelbach, to become the first permanent director of the agency responsible for enforcing gun laws in nearly a decade.
WASHINGTON — President Biden’s nominee to run the embattled Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives appears to have secured the 50 votes needed to ensure his confirmation after two conservative Democrats came out in favor of his nomination on Thursday.
Senators Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana both announced their support for the nominee, Steven Dettelbach, paving the way for him to become the first permanent director of the tiny agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s gun laws in nearly a decade.
Their support comes two weeks after Mr. Dettelbach, 57, a former federal prosecutor in Ohio, earned the backing of Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats. The White House saw Mr. King’s vote as critical: His decision to oppose Mr. Biden’s first pick for the job, David Chipman, a fiery former A.T.F. agent, sank the nomination.
“As a proud gun owner and defender of the Second Amendment, Senator Tester plans to support Mr. Dettelbach’s nomination because our law enforcement agencies need to be fully staffed with leaders who will combat crime and support our brave folks who keep Montana communities safe,” a spokeswoman for Mr. Tester, Sarah Feldman, wrote in an email.
Mr. Tester had been leaning toward backing the nomination but had concerns about Mr. Dettelbach’s support of renewing the assault weapons ban, according to a person with knowledge of his thinking.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Manchin told CNN, “I’m going to support him,” adding that A.T.F.’s “agents need leadership, and they need someone who understands what they do and how vital their services are to our country.”
Administration officials cautioned that the announcements on Thursday did not guarantee Mr. Dettelbach’s confirmation and said that a single defection could imperil the nomination. The Judiciary Committee, which met two weeks ago to consider his nomination, has yet to vote on his confirmation.
Still, the moves come as welcome news as the White House is seeking to eke out even an incremental bipartisan compromise on gun control after the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas.
White House officials considered Mr. Dettelbach’s confirmation hearings a make-or-break moment for Mr. Biden’s stalled agenda on gun control, which hinges on an energized and forcefully led A.T.F. With unanimous Republican opposition expected, they cannot afford a single Democratic defection in an evenly divided Senate.
That already unpredictable dynamic was upended less than 24 hours before Mr. Dettelbach appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee, when an 18-year-old man wielded a semiautomatic rifle to kill 19 students and two teachers at a school in Uvalde.
But the shock over the killings seemed to have jolted, at least for a day, momentum in Mr. Dettelbach’s direction: Republicans, who had been expected to grill him over his previous support for renewing the assault weapons ban, adopted a notably less confrontational tone — and opposition to his nomination in the gun lobby was comparatively subdued.
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Biden’s Choice to Run the A.T.F. Picks Up Support of 2 Key Democrats - The New York Times
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