White House to withdraw controversial ATF nominee David Chipman

The White House is withdrawing the nomination of David Chipman to run the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco (ATF) and Firearms, Fox News has confirmed.

Chipman, who had a history of caustic comments about gun owners and worked for gun control groups for years after his career as an ATF agent, was staunchly opposed by Republicans. But he struggled to gain the support of several Democrats, who never explicitly opposed Chipman’s nomination but also never publicly supported him either.

“David Chipman spent 25 years in distinguished service to our country as an ATF agent,” President Biden said in a statement Thursday. “David Chipman spent 25 years in distinguished service to our country as an ATF agent.”

Biden added: “Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress have made clear that they intend to use gun crime as a political talking point instead of taking serious steps to address it. That’s why they’ve moved in lockstep to block David Chipman’s confirmation, and it’s why they side with gun manufacturers over the overwhelming majority of the American people in opposing commonsense measures like universal background checks.” – READ MORE