The Only ATF Director Ever Confirmed By The Senate Is Stepping Down

B. Todd Jones of Minnesota, President Barack Obama's nominee for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, listens to opening statements on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 20... B. Todd Jones of Minnesota, President Barack Obama's nominee for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, listens to opening statements on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013, during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Five months after President Barack Obama called on lawmakers to approve his choice to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Senate is considering the nomination. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) MORE LESS
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B. Todd Jones, the first Senate-confirmed head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, announced Friday that he would step down at the end of the month.

“I will truly miss leading and working side by side with these men and women in their pursuit of ATF’s unique law-enforcement and regulatory mission,” Jones said in announcing his resignation, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal.

Jones, a former U.S. attorney, was tapped as the agency’s acting director in the wake of the 2011 Fast and Furious scandal. The Senate confirmed Jones to head up the ATF in 2013, the first time that body had done so since being given the power to confirm the agency’s director in 2006.

His resignation comes after the Obama administration abandoned plans to ban rifle ammunition that can pierce law enforcement officers’ bulletproof vests amid blowback from members of Congress and a public outcry.

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