It's frozen over!
A few hours ago, the Senate confirmed B. Todd Jones to be the director of the ATF. Huffington Post reports that the precarious deal on filibusters nearly imploded over it, but somehow, we have an actual director for the ATF for a couple of years.
It takes years, sometimes, to beat the NRA, but on occasion it does happen.
I first mentioned this problem back in January, but it's been a problem since 2006, when Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) slipped a provision into the Patriot Act reauthorization, adding the requirement for Senate confirmation. And ever since this NRA-sponsored change to the law, there has been no director for the ATF, not even during the sad end of the Bush regime, because it's the ATF and we can't have that running normally.
Today, it was Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) that nearly blew up the deal in the Senate on filibusters, not that it's expected to last much longer in any case. And of course the eventual cloture vote only squeaked by, 60-40. Murkowski cited a whistleblower complaint against Jones, and with the administration's record on whistleblowers I wouldn't dismiss it, but apparently it's been settled enough to allow for a vote.
Murkowski was surrounded by more than a dozen of her colleagues at one point after she cast her original vote opposing Jones, and their raised voices could be heard from the Senate press gallery.
Among those in the unusual huddle was Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). "Lisa's just a friend of mine, and we had a nice little chat," Collins said afterward. "I was concerned that she was being pummeled by both sides and she might need a little break."
I imagine Harry Reid is looking for an excuse to drop the bomb on the Senate. It only took...how many years for him to wise up? Apparently? Maybe? It remains to be seen.
So, this prompted congratulations from Gabby Giffords and her group, Americans for Responsible Solutions.
For the first time in seven years, the agency tasked with enforcing our nation's gun laws -- the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) -- will have a Director leading the organization.
It's a tremendous victory for our movement, and it wouldn't have been possible without you standing up and making your voice heard.
So while the NRA claims that we just need to enforce the laws on the books, they do things like this, purposefully blocking the ATF from even having a director, in order to hobble law enforcement -- revealing that their true interest has nothing to do with enforcing the law, but in subverting it.
Nice to see that the NRA lost this one, although it took seven years.