FBI Director Kash Patel is no longer in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), but the Trump Administration won’t say when that change happened.
On Wednesday, the ATF confirmed to The Reload that Patel had left the acting director role and President Donald Trump had replaced him with Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll. However, it couldn’t say when the move was officially made, and neither could the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“To my understanding, the timeline was established by the White House so ATF cannot provide a comment,” Hadiza Buge, an ATF spokesperson, told The Reload.
Buge passed along a statement from White House spokesperson Harrison Fields as well.
“Director Kash Patel was briefly designated ATF Director while awaiting Senate confirmations—a standard, short-term move,” Fields said. “Dozens of similar re-designations have occurred across the federal government. Director Patel is now excelling in his role at the FBI and delivering outstanding results.”
However, the White House did not respond to a request for details about the timeline.
It’s unclear why the administration won’t reveal the exact dates for when the swap occurred. Moving from one Senate-confirmed Trump appointee to another is unlikely to change the policy goals of the ATF in the short term. Driscoll, already serving as the Secretary of the Army, is also not likely to have more free time to dedicate to running the ATF than Patel did as FBI Director.
While the White House didn’t give a reason for the shuffle, multiple reports indicate Patel was rarely, if ever, actively involved with overseeing day-to-day operations at the ATF during his short tenure. NBC News’s Ken Dilanian reported he had “not been seen inside an ATF facility for weeks.” The Washington Post has similarly claimed Patel hadn’t been back to ATF headquarters since he was sworn in back in late February.
Numerous ATF officials and outside stakeholders who spoke to The Reload told a similar story.
“He didn’t communicate with anybody,” one agent, who asked not to be named because they were concerned about reprisals, said. “I don’t think he spoke to a single person from ATF the entire time, however much time that actually was.”
NBC’s Dilanian further claimed Patel was only ATF acting director “for a very short time, perhaps just a day.” When asked about that claim, the ATF referred The Reload to the DOJ, which referred us to the White House, which didn’t reply. However, the ATF has been issuing press releases with quotes from Patel identified as the acting director until this week that imply he was involved in high-level decisions.
“Today’s repeal of the Zero Tolerance Policy and the comprehensive review of stabilizing brace regulations and the definition of ‘engaged in the business’ marks a pivotal step toward restoring fairness and clarity in firearms regulation,” Patel was quoted as saying in Monday’s announcement of new ATF actions. “We are committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure our policies are balanced, constitutional and protective of Americans’ Second Amendment rights.”
Patel was also listed as the acting director on the ATF’s website through Wednesday, though his biography was never updated. Driscoll replaced him on the website Thursday, but also has no biography listed nor even a picture.
The ATF agent who spoke with The Reload said there hasn’t been any internal communication from Driscoll yet, and they aren’t sure when the changeover happened either.
“I don’t know. I just follow the news,” the agent said. “I mean, that’s where I hear most things these days.”
That’s also how the agent found out Deputy Director Marvin G. Richardson left his role on Thursday. Reuters and USA Today broke the news that the administration told the 35-year-veteran he could either resign or be fired. Richardson, who had multiple stints atop the agency, has been criticized by both gun-rights and gun-control activists over the years for either being too willing to impose constitutionally-questionable new gun restrictions or being too cozy with the gun industry, depending on which side you listen to.
He was passed over for the permanent director role and demoted under President Joe Biden, which prompted outrage from some agents. Despite that, he stayed on as deputy director and was the top-ranking official before Patel took over.
Patel faced criticism for his comments promising retribution against President Trump’s opponents. However, he garnered strong support from gun-rights activists who hoped he would remove Biden-era ATF rules and the officials who’d implemented them–something that has at least partially happened, even if it’s unclear how much of a role Patel had in it. He was broadly seen as a pro-gun ally, largely because he’d spoken at a Gun Owners of America (GOA) conference in 2024.
Driscoll, an army veteran with a Yale Law degree, who was a staffer for the Senate Veterans Affairs committee, doesn’t appear to have similar credentials on gun policy. Still, the gun-rights groups–who all credited Patel with the ATF’s most recent actions–applauded Driscoll’s appointment.
“President Trump’s decision to appoint Acting Director Driscoll is indicative of his resolve to bring reform to the ATF and protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens and the industry that makes it possible to exercise those rights,” Larry Keane, general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said in a statement.
“President Trump’s decision to appoint Acting Director Driscoll is indicative of his resolve to protect Second Amendment rights and bring much needed reform to the ATF,” Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said in a statement. “Mr. Patel has his hands full heading the FBI, and we’re delighted to see the president take the additional load off his shoulders and at the same time put another well-qualified individual into that position.”
The gun-control groups were relatively mum on the swap, with just Giffords commenting on it. The group complained about the amount of turnover at the law enforcement agency.
“Acting Director Dan Driscoll is the ATF’s fourth leader this year, and he already has an important full-time job running the U.S. Army,” it said in a statement. “Stopping violent crime at ATF requires hard work and dedication—it’s not a part-time job. This administration needs to get serious about stopping gun crime. Lives are at stake,”
The ATF agent said the impact on the agency’s day-to-day operations has been minimal.
“The field still has field operations and bosses, and things go through,” they told The Reload. “Certain decisions that needed to be made by the acting director, you couldn’t get it. That’s where it got kind of tough.”
They said the bigger issue was a lack of communication about the agency’s direction, which is harming morale.
“I mean, it’s not crazy. It’s just more like a morale issue of not knowing,” the agent said. “There’s a new article about us merging, and now we have a new director. I was like, ‘What the hell?’ It’s just the uncertainty, not knowing who your leader is or the vision or the future, everything that you need for people to be most effective at their jobs.”
The agent said the impression inside the agency is that the Trump Administration doesn’t know what it wants to do with the ATF.
“It doesn’t seem like there’s some grand plan,” they said. “I’m sure there are people who want to get rid of the ATF, but they can’t do it because they’re not going to have the votes in Congress. So, they’re kicking the can down the road. That’s what it feels like. I think it’s very low priority for them.”
