President Donald Trump is expected to nominate FBI director Kash Patel as the representative of the Alcohol Bureau, tobacco, firearms and explosives.
A Justice Department official told ABC News that Patel is expected to be sworn as proxy supervisor early next week.
During the first parade of Capital One Arena Inside, held in Washington, DC on January 20, 2025, FBI Director candidate Kash Patel talks on stage.
Angelaweis/AFP, File via Getty Images
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
The move comes later last week after Attorney General Pam Bondi fired ATF’s legal counsel, Pamela Hicks. Bondi said in an interview with Fox News Friday that the agency’s lead lawyer is “targeting gun owners.”
Kash Patel has been sworn in as FBI Director on February 21, 2025 by Attorney General Pambondi of the Indian Convention Office at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington.
Pedro Ugarte/AFP via Getty Images
ABC News reached Hicks for comment.
Patel was sworn in as FBI director last week despite some controversy surrounding his appointment. He has been a critic of the FBI voices for years, saying he previously wanted to advocate corruption and prejudice at the Washington Bureau headquarters.
Patel, who has never become an FBI or ATF agent, has supported the Jan. 6 mob, attended a rally with Trump and appeared alongside a variety of conservative figures, including those who pushed Canon’s plot I did.
All Senate Democrats and GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted against Patel, citing his lack of political objectivity.
The ATF, tasked with regulating the sale and registration of firearms across the United States, has long been the target of Republicans who claim it was a government violation of the right to second amendments.
Attorney General Pam Bondy walked to the West Wing of the White House in Washington on February 21, 2025.
Alex Brandon/AP
Earlier this month, Trump issued an executive order 30 days later instructing Bondi to confirm actions to address his right to maintain and endure weapons and to present plans to the White House.
In one of her first notes signed after her confirmation, Bondi told the ATF that she resources from alcohol and cigarette enforcement weapons to support the DOJ’s efforts to combat illegal immigrants and cross-border criminal groups I was instructed to shift.
