FBI Director Kash Patel, who was confirmed only a few days ago, has assumed another critical role in President Donald Trump’s administration: Leading the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

That’s the second best news we could have received about the ATF: The, of course, would be a decision to stick the agency in the “wood chipper,” to borrow a phrase from of Elon Musk.

Patel was sworn in as the ATF’s leader on Monday, the agency announced in a post on the social media platform X.

ATF welcomes Acting Director Kash Patel to ATF, who was sworn in and had his first visit to ATF Headquarters in Washington, D.C. today. We are enthusiastic to work together for a safer America! #WeAreATF pic.twitter.com/3KMkkfSGLv

— ATF HQ (@ATFHQ) February 24, 2025

His installation to lead the federal agency comes after Pamela Hicks, the former chief legal counsel for the ATF, was removed Thursday by Attorney General Pam Bondi, as Fox News reported.

“Earlier today, I was served official notice from the Attorney General of the United States that I was being removed from my position as the Chief Counsel of ATF and my employment with the Department of Justice terminated,” Hicks announced on LinkedIn.

“I have had the privilege of serving in the federal civil service for almost 28 years, including 23 as an attorney for the Department of Justice,” she added.

The move to install Patel as the head of the ATF comes as several other Republicans want to abolish the agency entirely.

Would you prefer to see the ATF eliminated entirely?

Yes: 88% (99 Votes)

No: 12% (14 Votes)

For many conservative Americans, the ATF has become a symbol of Democratic attempts to destroy the right to bear arms.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, and Rep. Eric Burlison, a Missouri Republican, submitted a bill last month to scrap the ATF.

“The ATF is emblematic of the deep-state bureaucracy that believes it can infringe on constitutional liberties without consequence,” Burlison said in a Jan. 7 news release.

“If this agency cannot uphold its duty to serve the people within the framework of the Constitution, it has no place in our government.”

Boebert said in the release that she “cannot imagine under any circumstance or administration where the ATF serves as an ally to the Second Amendment and law-abiding firearm owners across America.”

“I’m eager to continue this effort with Rep. Burlison to defend our constitutional rights,” she said. “The ATF should be abolished before they eventually abolish our Second Amendment.”

But until that bill passes, setting Patel in charge of the ATF seems to resemble President Donald Trump’s move to put Secretary of State Marco Rubio in charge of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The foreign aid agency has now become infamous for funding a vast patronage network of leftist nonprofits and subversive groups around the world.

We have seen massive layoffs at USAID, in addition to the nixing of countless contracts deemed to be at odds with American interests and values, in just the past month.

That seems to be the strategy at the outset of the Trump administration: Setting a loyalist in charge of an agency marked for the wood chipper, then severing access to money and manpower.

Let’s hope we see the same at the ATF under Kash Patel.

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