ATF Director Dettelbach to Step Down 2 Days Before Trump’s Inauguration

Supporters say he has enhanced public safety by implementing Biden’s gun control agenda while gun rights advocates say he curtailed their constitutional rights.

President Biden listens as Steven Dettelbach, then-nominee for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, speaks at the White House on April 11, 2022. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Steven Dettelbach, director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), will officially resign on Jan. 18.

In the more than two and a half years Dettelbach has led the ATF, the agency has drawn the praise and support of Democrats who say he has enhanced public safety by implementing President Joe Biden’s gun control agenda.