By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate voted to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on Tuesday, making career prosecutor Steve Dettelbach only the second person to be confirmed as the agency’s director in 16 years.
Dettelbach, a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio and currently a partner at the law firm BakerHostetler, was confirmed in a 48-46 vote, with Republicans Susan Collins and Rob Portman joining with Democrats to support his nomination.
He is Biden’s second choice to lead the agency. The prior nominee, former ATF agent and gun-control advocate David Chipman, was forced to withdraw following fierce opposition from gun groups and an online disinformation campaign.
Dettelbach has pledged to lead the bureau in a nonpartisan manner, but several Republicans have said they are still concerned over his views on gun regulations.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Makini Brice; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Paul Simao)