Gun control advocate and one-time nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) David Chipman said this week that the administration had left him alone to fight off attacks from Republicans as they executed a ‘failed’ strategy to push through his confirmation.
‘Either this was impossible to win, or the strategy failed,’ Chipman told the New York Times. ‘This was a failure.’
Chipman questioned whether the White house had a coordinated strategy, and said he found it ‘unusual’ he spoke to no one from the administration from the moment he was nominated until the moment his nomination was withdrawn.
‘In the back of my mind, I always thought that there would be a Plan B, but so far there hasn’t been,’ Chipman said, adding that he often felt like he was ‘on an island’ amid attacks from gun rights groups.
In the meantime, the White House had been focusing its efforts almost entirely on Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., seemingly forgetting Independent Maine Sen. Angus King.
The Biden administration’s courting of Manchin, the de facto kingmaker of the split 50-50 Senate, who remained hesitant on the pick while King was actively opposed. Montana Democrat Jon Tester was also reportedly a holdout.
Press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House ‘shares frustration’ that Chipman was not able to be confirmed, but blamed ‘Republican obstructionism.’
She said the administration remains committed to finding him a job in the administration if he wishes.
Chipman questioned whether the White house had a coordinated strategy, and said he found it ‘unusual’ he spoke to no one from the administration
All Republicans voted against Chipman, his past comments and his previous work with gun control groups like Giffords and Everytown.
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Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, for example brought up during a confirmation hearing a Reddit post in which Chipman, who is a gun owner himself, apparently advocated for the arrest of people who fail background checks when they try to buy guns.
He said that because people who fail background checks are often later caught using guns, ‘This is a perfect opportunity to arrest people before committing crimes.’
‘We don’t arrest people before they commit crimes. That’s the sort of thing that’s reserved for bad post-apocalyptic dystopian novels and movies,’ Lee said.
King’s vote should have come as no surprise to the administration, as he had reportedly told them previously he was not supportive of Chipman’s nomination, amid pressure back at home to buck a nominee seen as resistant to gun rights prized in Maine.
Chipman said that King called him into his office and told him ‘my friends who are gun dealers in Maine’ objected to his confirmation. And after a call from Biden, King would not budge – Chipman’s nomination was withdrawn in early September.
The Biden administration has not yet chosen a replacement.
In a letter to constituents, King said his views on gun violence were ‘consistent’ with Chipman’s, but he was concerned about whether Chipman could be a ‘fair and objective regulator.’
Facing heat to act on gun violence after a slew of mass shootings last spring, Biden nominated Chipman to lead the bureau in April, putting the ATF, rather than legislation, front and center of the administration’s crackdown on guns.
Chipman worked at ATF for more than 20 years. He now works as a senior policy advisor at Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a role that has, in part, led to the widespread opposition to his confirmation.
Since the administration gave up on his confirmation, Chipman has turned down a role in the Department of Justice to return to advising the gun control group.
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