Trump expected to name Kash Patel as acting ATF director: Sources

By Katherine Faulders & Alexander Mallin

President Donald Trump is expected to name FBI Director Kash Patel as the acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

A Justice Department official told ABC News that Patel is expected to be sworn in as acting director early next week.

Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

FBI Director nominee Kash Patel gestures as he walks on stage to speak during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena, in Washington, DC, on Jan. 20, 2025.

The White House didn't respond to a request for comment.

The move comes after Attorney General Pam Bondi fired the ATF's general counsel, Pamela Hicks, late last week. Bondi said in an interview with Fox News on Friday that it was because the agency's lead lawyer was "targeting gun owners."

Pedro Ugarte/AFP via Getty Images

Kash Patel is sworn in as FBI director by Attorney General Pam Bondi in the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, Feb. 21, 2025.

ABC News reached out to Hicks for comment.

Patel was sworn in as the FBI director last week despite several controversies surrounding his nomination. He has been a vocal critic of the FBI for years and previously said he wanted to clean out the bureau’s headquarters in Washington claiming corruption and bias.

Patel, who has never been an FBI or ATF agent, has supported for Jan. 6 rioters, attended rallies with Trump and appeared with various conservative figures including ones who have pushed Qanon conspiracies.

All Senate Democrats and GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted against Patel citing his lack of political objectivity.

The ATF, which is tasked with regulating sales and registrations of firearms across the United States, has long been a target of Republicans over what they argue is government encroachment on Second Amendment rights.

Earlier this month, Trump issued an executive order instructing Bondi to review actions to address the right to keep and bear arms and present a plan to the White House after 30 days.

In one of her first memos signed after her confirmation, Bondi instructed the ATF to shift resources away from its alcohol and tobacco enforcement arms to assist in the DOJ's efforts to combat illegal immigration and transnational criminal groups.