FBI director Kash Patel is no longer in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), as President Trump shakes up the law enforcement agency that enforces gun laws.
Patel had been chosen to lead the ATF in February, but starting now, Patel will focus on his work at the FBI while U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll picks up a second job as ATF director.
The reason for the shakeup was not shared, but the Trump administration downplayed it as a routine change.
“Director Kash Patel was briefly designated ATF Director while awaiting Senate confirmations — a standard, short-term move. Dozens of similar re-designations have occurred across the federal government," the White House told Reuters.
Driscoll, 38, is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq and a senior advisor to Vice President J.D. Vance, a former Marine. They became good friends at Yale Law School.
Patel is no longer listed as the ATF director on the agency's website. Dan Driscoll is named as the director, but there's currently no picture or information.
A source told Fox News Digital that the change was sought by Patel so he could focus on his work at the FBI.
"It was never supposed to be a long-term thing. He was happy to serve, of course, but his job is the director of the FBI," the source said.
Meanwhile, the deputy director of the ATF, Marvin Richardson, was forced out this week, Reuters reported.
The ATF is part of the Justice Department, whose leader, attorney general Pam Bondi, has launched a new task force to protect the right to bear arms.
The DOJ and ATF this week repealed President Biden's strict "zero tolerance" policy, which allowed the ATF to strip gun dealers of their licenses over paperwork errors.
“This Department of Justice believes that the 2nd Amendment is not a second-class right,” said Attorney General Bondi. “The prior administration’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy unfairly targeted law-abiding gun owners and created an undue burden on Americans seeking to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms – it ends today.”
Patel was known as an FBI critic prior to his confirmation to lead the agency, which has a history of going after Trump and his supporters.
But Patel has since faced backlash from Trump supporters after promoting one of the FBI's top January 6th investigators to lead the Washington field office.
