Steven Dettelbach was sworn in Tuesday as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, becoming only the second ATF director to win Senate approval since confirmation was required in 2006.
“Thank you, Attorney General Garland, and I also want to say thanks to President Biden for your confidence in me, for fighting for the American people every day and for fighting to provide ATF with a permanent director,” Dettelbach said at his investiture ceremony at the Justice Department.
A former U.S. attorney from Cleveland, Dettelbach was confirmed by the Senate on a 48-46 vote earlier this month, with two Republican senators joining the Democrats in support. Nominations for the agency have proved difficult to get through the Senate, leaving it without a permanent director for seven years.