Category: Bureaucraps

Ending the ATF Not So Fringe an Idea Anymore

There are a lot of people who want to end the ATF, but for a long time, all of them were gun rights advocates who had seen how the bureau abused its authority. For most Americans, it was just another federal law enforcement agency trying to do the right thing and catch criminals.

They had it in their heads that what happened in Ruby Ridge and in Waco were really just the result of lawless behavior rather than law enforcement screwing the pooch royally.

But as time marches on, things change.

Now, you can talk about ending the ATF and it’s not nearly as fringe of an idea as it once was. In fact, now it’s a fairly normal idea in politics.

The 119th Congress providesgun owners a unique chance to go on offense and advance pro-gun legislation. Donald Trump’s victory in November, coupled with Republicans’ retaking of the Senate and their continued control of the House, puts gun owners in a good position to get on the legislative scorecard, at least on paper.

On Jan. 7, 2025, Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) took the initiative byintroducingH.R. 221, the “Abolish the ATF Act’’, a succinct, one-page bill that aims to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). Burlison’s bill already has 27 co-sponsors, with Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ).

In a statement to The National News Desk earlier in January, Burlisondeclared, “The ATF is emblematic of the deep-state bureaucracy that believes it can infringe on constitutional liberties without consequence. If this agency cannot uphold its duty to serve the people within the framework of the Constitution, it has no place in our government.”

Burlison previouslyindicatedthat state governments should handle firearms issues without having the Feds butt in. He accused the ATF of “co-opting or commandeering [local] law enforcement to enforce laws” which elected officials in state legislation did not pass. The congressman suggested that states should be allowed to handle matters themselves, without federal interference.

Burlison’s bill is just the latest in congressional attempts to rein in the ATF’s power. Since the ATF’s infamous Waco siege of 1993, where nearly80 peoplewere killed, gun owners’ attitudes towards the ATF have hardened to the point where several elected officials have stepped up to introduce their respective ATF abolition bills. Members of Congress such Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene(R-GA) Rep. Matt Gaetz(R-FL) have introduced their respective ATF abolition bills over the last decade.

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And With That Receipt, We Learn That USAID Paid for a Terrorist’s College Tuition

You cannot make this stuff up? USAID, which blessedly is no more, paid for a radical Islamic terrorist’s college tuition. Past receipts show that the former agency footed the bill for Anwar Awlaki’s higher education. Awlaki lied about the country of his birth to obtain funds for college through the State Department. Awlaki later became the point of the lance for al-Qaeda’s digital jihad arm. Investigative Catherine Herridge has more:

Looks like USAID supported college tuition for Anwar Aulaqi (Awlaki) who later became a high level al Qaeda terrorist. Aulaqi falsely claimed he was born in Yemen to secure the financial help via the State Dept. when he was actually a US citizen, born in Las Cruces New Mexico.

Aulaqi would later develop close ties with several 9/11 hijackers and attain leadership status in AQ’s Yemen affiliate. Aulaqi was the godfather of the digital jihad that leveraged his writings and the web to radicalize Americans to AQ’s cause. Aulaqi became the first American targeted for death by the CIA.

In 2011, he was killed in a US drone strike.

 

And yet, some media figures claim they cannot find any waste or abuse at USAID.

Yeah, again, the legacy media is a joke.

What’s that one about the road to Hell being paved with “good intentions”?

How a Novel and JFK’s Good Intentions Became This USAID Mess

Almost 70 years ago, the U.S. State Department dispatched a new ambassador to a Southeast Asian nation. As often seemed to happen, the new U.S. official was no expert on the nation, its economy, or its culture. He did not speak the language. And his concerns were more geopolitical and career-oriented.

To be honest, the ambassador’s most important job had nothing to do with representing the U.S. there or helping that nation. It was instead bolstering that country against the advancing threat of Communism.

At that time in the 1950s, the subversive threat of that evil ideology had gripped the American psyche throughout government and entertainment all the way down to elementary schools, where even kindergartners practiced air-raid drills.

Government reactions, over-reactions, and some stupidity caused a cascading array of official decisions over decades, each one seemingly reasonable at the time, that collectively led to the need for this overdue federal housecleaning.

Now, the results of those potent fears and shortsighted decisions are culminating in an explosive Washington scandal and unfolding crisis over USAID under the new aggressive Trump Administration. The impacts run through thousands of employees, likely millions of beneficiaries in 177 countries, and affect the U.S. image around the world.

This explains why the developing details of outrageous abuse of taxpayer money by Woke USAID officials are resonating so profoundly in this country and, indeed, globally. This crisis reckoning is far from over.

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I Meme Therefore I Am 

Here, Samantha Power, the former administrator of the USAID proudly highlights the agency’s role in influencing “strategically important elections” by using the “Democratic Elections Fund.” She also discusses how USAID funds journalists—not only to report the news but also to “fact-check” incoming information.

USAID has directed nearly $500 million into the secretive, U.S. government-funded NGO Internews Network. This organization has collaborated with 4,291 media outlets, produced 4,799 hours of broadcasts in a single year—reaching up to 778 million people—and trained over 9,000 journalists as of 2023. IN has also supported social media censorship initiatives.

Furthermore, USAID has funded and trained thousands of lawyers, judges, and election workers, conducted polls questioning election legitimacy, published reports alleging fraud, and played a role in overseeing new elections—both domestically and abroad—among other activities.

USAID Helped Fund Hamas Tunnel System

If you’ve seen all those videos of Hamas’ underground cities in which they plan and prepare for their urban warfare against Israelis, you will notice a lot of interesting things.

One of them is that they are all lined with massive amounts of concrete. There are miles and miles of these tunnels and bunkers, and most of the destruction in Northern Gaza is the result of Israel systematically destroying the UNDERGROUND city that Hamas built. The bombs fall to destroy those bunker-like tunnels, and the result is that the buildings above also get flattened.

So where did all that concrete come from, you might ask… It turns out that USAID helped build the cement factory with hundreds of millions of dollars in aid money and pays the company for whom we built the factory for the products, giving them a steady source of funds.

So yes, USAID helped build the Hamas tunnels in Gaza from which the planning and preparation for October 7th happened, and from which Hamas has conducted the war that has destroyed Gaza.

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Bondi Orders ATF to Shift Resources Away from Alcohol, Tobacco

In one of her first acts as Attorney General, Pam Bondi ordered an apparent reshuffling of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

As part of a memo outlining the Trump Administration’s approach to charging and sentencing, Bondi ordered the ATF to deprioritize some enforcement efforts. Instead, she told the agency to focus resources on areas ranging from immigration enforcement to human trafficking and transnational gangs. However, she also told them not to deprioritize firearms regulations.

“To free resources to address more pressing priorities, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) shall shift resources from its Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement Programs to focus on matters relating to the other priorities set forth herein,” Bondi said in the memo. “No resources shall be diverted from the ATF’s regulatory responsibilities, such as federal firearms licenses and background checks.”

The move comes after Trump reportedly expanded ATF agents’s authority to enforce immigration law. It shows the Trump Administration’s willingness to fundamentally change the makeup and mission of federal law enforcement agencies. It is also the first indication of how Bondi may approach gun policy as AG and another indication that the priorities of gun-rights activists are secondary to other interests in the new administration, such as an immigration crackdown.

Bondi, who faced opposition from some gun-rights activists over her history of backing stricter gun laws, such as “Red Flag” laws and broader age restrictions for gun purchases, was confirmed as AG with full Republican support on Wednesday. She described herself as “pro-Second Amendment” during her confirmation. However, she also qualified her position on gun policy by pointing to her experience responding to mass shootings.

“I am pro-Second Amendment. I have always been pro-Second Amendment,” she said. “I will follow the laws of my state of Florida and our country, of course. Regarding any gun laws, I worked that shooting, meaning I was there when 17 family members were notified–I was there–that their children were murdered. Also, Pulse Nightclub. I also went to Nevada to help with the MGM shooting. The Attorney General at the time asked me to come out there. I believe over 60 people were murdered there.”

Gun Owners of America, which backed Trump in the 2024 election alongside most other gun-rights groups, said it hoped to work with Bondi in her new role. However, it also warned it would be watching how she performs.

“Gun owners have seen firsthand how an anti-gun Attorney General can abuse their power to undermine the Constitution,” Erich Pratt, the group’s senior vice president, said in a statement. “Pam Bondi’s confirmation is a stark reminder that we must stay vigilant to ensure she defends, rather than dismantles, our God-given rights.”

The memo, first published by Politico, lays out the administration’s basic logic for how it plans to pursue law enforcement over the next four years. It focuses on a few key areas. Those include immigration, drug enforcement, and violence against law enforcement–even though Donald Trump pardoned a slew of January 6th rioters who were convicted of assaulting police as one of his first acts in office.

“The Nation faces historic threats from widespread illegal immigration, dangerous cartels, transnational organized crime, gangs, human trafficking and smuggling, fentanyl and opioids, violence against law enforcement, terrorism, hostile nation states, and other sources,” Bondi said in the memo. “This section describes the Department’s priorities and guidance in addressing these threats, including by revising previous priorities to make additional resources available.”

However, the memo doesn’t give a detailed rundown of how much of the plan will be implemented. It doesn’t outline how the ATF is meant to shift its resources away from its traditional operations to these new priorities. Nor does it address what, if anything, will be done to enforce federal laws governing alcohol and tobacco moving forward or who will be responsible for those tasks.

The ATF is also still operating without a director, even an acting one. President Trump has not yet named a nominee for a permanent director and may not ever do so. The agency appears to currently be run by deputy director Marvin Richardson, who was previously the acting director during the early years of the Biden Administration, but the agency hasn’t responded to requests from The Reload to confirm that.

However, the memo promises to flush out the administration’s plan down the line.

“Further detailed guidance regarding these priorities, and others, will follow,” Bondi said.

Leak Shows ATF Continues to Disregard Court Orders on FRTs

The ATF is still informing law enforcement agencies that FRTs are machineguns.

In a recent Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) leak released by AmmoLand News and Gun Owners of America (GOA), the government agency shared its fears about 3D-printed machinegun conversion devices (MCD), but not everything the ATF listed is an MCD.

The ATF included the Super Safe AK in its documents, claiming it was in a drop-in auto-sear (DIAS). The issue with that designation is that the Super Safety is not a machinegun or an MCD. It is a forced reset trigger (FRT), and the Bureau might be violating a court order by designating the device as a machinegun in its January 15, 2025, documentation.

Each time a shooter uses the AK Super Safe, they must pull the trigger. The statute definition of a machinegun is a firearm that expels more than one round per function of the trigger. For each function of the trigger, the Super Safety only expels a single round. It does not fit the definition of a machinegun as defined under the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA). The Supreme Court has already ruled that the ATF cannot change the statutory definition of a machinegun in the Cargill case.

The Cargill case involved a bump stock. SCOTUS found that since a shooter must pull the trigger between each round, a bump stock is not a machinegun. The Cargill case has been referenced in NAGR v. Garland, which challenged the ATF’s definition of FRTs as machineguns. In that case, the judge found that only one round is expelled per trigger function. The judge issued an injunction against the ATF from taking enforcement actions against the owners and manufacturers of FRTs. Yet, the ATF is still informing law enforcement agencies that FRTs are machineguns.

The ATF also refers to the AK Super Safe as the AK-DIAS. The AK-DIAS is not the same as the AK Super Safe. The AK-DIAS is a separate project and is a machinegun conversion device. It does convert a semi-automatic AK into a fully automatic firearm. The AK Super Safe engages the safety between every round making it impossible to fire automatically. It appears that the ATF is trying to conflate the two different devices which could lead to confusion amongst law enforcement, and the false arrest of Americans for possessing something that is completely legal.

This situation isn’t the first time the ATF rebelled against the courts or the White House. The ATF was criticized for disregarding an executive order demanding that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) positions be eliminated. The order explicitly stated that those employees should be placed on administrative leave, and agencies should not try to hide them. The ATF did the opposite of the order. Lisa T. Boykin was the ATF’s “Chief Diversity Officer” responsible for implementing DEI at the Bureau. After President Trump issued the order, her title was changed to “Senior Executive.”

The ATF also recently came under fire for disregarding multiple court orders blocking the pistol brace rule. In that case, the ATF told a Gun Owners of America (GOA) member that their CZ Scorpion equipped with a brace would have to be registered with the NFA division of the ATF and pay a $200 stamp fee, or they could be charged with a federal felony. The ATF said that even though the rule was blocked, they could interpret the statute however they wanted. GOA forced the issue, and the ATF finally issued a retraction.

The situation is similar in this case. Even though the courts have barred the ATF from taking action against FRTs by a permanent injunction, they seem to be doing just that. Many view the Bureau as an out-of-control rogue government agency that ignores the law and does what it wants to do. This situation doesn’t instill confidence in those running the ATF, including the default head of the Bureau, Marvin Richardson.

Some have campaigned for Richardson to become the permanent head of the ATF, but this situation is the third time in a month that the ATF has disregarded a Presidential or court order. It leads many to wonder if Richardson is complacent or incompetent.

Former Federal Reserve Adviser Indicted on Espionage Charges

Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin announced Friday that the Department of Justice has indicted a former senior adviser for the Federal Reserve on espionage charges.

Sixty-three-year-old John Harold Rogers of Virginia was arrested Friday and charged with conspiracy to commit economic espionage and with making false statements. Rogers allegedly conspired to steal FRB trade secrets in order to aid China.

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Observation O’ The Day:
We still don’t know exactly what caused Wednesday night’s fatal collision. But making it a priority to hire people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities for life-and-death positions is going to result in tragedy sooner rather than later.

FLASHBACK:
FAA’s diversity push includes focus on hiring people with ‘severe intellectual’ and ‘psychiatric’ disabilities.

Published January 14, ⇒2024⇐

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is actively recruiting workers who suffer “severe intellectual” disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website.

“Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the Federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring,” the FAA’s website states. “They include hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism.”

The initiative is part of the FAA’s “Diversity and Inclusion” hiring plan, which says “diversity is integral to achieving FAA’s mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel across our nation and beyond.” The FAA’s website shows the agency’s guidelines on diversity hiring were last updated on March 23, 2022.

The FAA, which is overseen by Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s Department of Transportation, is a government agency charged with regulating civil aviation and employs roughly 45,000 people.

All eyes have been on the FAA and airline industry in recent days after a plug door on a Boeing 737 Max 9 blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5. The FAA grounded all 737 MAX 9 planes after the incident and is carrying out “extensive inspection” and maintenance work.

The FAA added it would increase its oversight of Boeing in the wake of the incident, including auditing Boeing’s 737 Max 9 jetliner production line and companies that supply parts to the airline manufacturer.

Following the incident, social media commenters and public figures have said that airlines and airline manufacturers’ emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has made flying less safe.

“Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety?” tech billionaire Elon Musk wrote on X last week. “That is actually happening.”

Critics of such commentary have pushed back on the argument that prioritizing DEI has made traveling less safe, with civil rights groups slamming Musk, for example, for the “abhorrent and pathetic” tweet.

On the FAA’s website, the agency states that people with “severe” mental and physical disabilities are the most underrepresented segment of the federal workforce.

FAA hiring page

“Because diversity is so critical, FAA actively supports and engages in a variety of associations, programs, coalitions and initiatives to support and accommodate employees from diverse communities and backgrounds. Our people are our strength, and we take great care in investing in and valuing them as such,” the FAA reads.

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We Finally Get Some Answers About the Wild New Jersey Drones Thanks to Trump

Dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of mysterious drones—some the size of refrigerators and compact cars—filled the skies over New Jersey and then they were everywhere. They hovered over homes, freaked out local elected officials, and caused mass panic. The Biden Administration offered no answers.

We heard they were prompted by Iran from a “mothership” off the coast. We were told they were Chinese spy drones. Were they hobbyists or malefactors, friend or foe? Nobody knew.

And then, suddenly, the drones stopped, Christmas came and went, and America turned the page.

But when he was running for president, Donald Trump promised to find out what the hell was going on and report back.

He reiterated the promise last week while signing executive orders when a reporter brought it up.

On Tuesday, during the first White House press briefing, we got some answers. But the answers prompt even more questions.

Trump spokesman Karoline Leavitt opened the first White House press briefing with the update on the drones.

Here’s what Leavitt said Trump dictated to her from the Oval Office mere minutes before the briefing:

After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons.

Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones. In time, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy.

In other words, if they were nothing and “not the enemy,” why couldn’t the Biden Administration have told Americans this information at the height of the frenzy? Instead, the Biden Administration chose to lie to the American people about the drones—failing to allay fears that some malevolent force was filling the skies with drones to provoke and frighten the American people.

Who was the target of the research, exactly? It appears that the American people were the focus of the Biden Administration’s research project.

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Trump Suspends As Many As 60 Senior Bureaucrats for Trying to Evade His Executive Orders.

President Trump has ordered as many as 60 senior bureaucrats in the US Agency for International Development placed on indefinite leave for taking actions to evade his executive orders. A memo from acting USAID administrator Jason Gray says, “We have identified several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the president’s executive orders and the mandate from the American people.“ As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions.”

This action effectively shuts down most of USAID’s $22.6 billion in program support.

The decision appears to affect nearly every career staffer who holds a top leadership role at the agency, at least in Washington — around 60 officials, the current and former officials said.

The cuts have left many offices within the agency entirely devoid of senior non-political leadership. The entire cadre of leaders who run USAID’s bureau for global health, for example, was put on leave, according to two of the officials.

“This is a huge morale hit,” said a former senior Trump administration official who was also told of the move. “This is the leadership of the agency. This is like taking out all the generals. I don’t know what they hope to accomplish by it.”

It would seem that the USAID hires a lot of dolts. If the “generals” are in rebellion and you can figure out what taking out those generals accomplishes, I’m not sure you should be allowed outside your home without wearing a football helmet.

Last week, President Trump issued an order, and the State Department issued further orders requiring USAID to stop designating new foreign aid funding or accepting funding applications. They were also told to issue “stop-work” orders to grantees. There were some exceptions, but for the most part, USAID activities were frozen in amber until they could be fully understood. If I had to guess, I would say that the people placed on leave decided the orders didn’t mean what they said or that they just weren’t going to comply.

This review will be painful in some places, but that is a small price to pay for stamping out the “I know better” ethos so present in the senior executive and foreign service.

Trump Suspends Security Clearance of 51 Officials Who Protected Hunter’s Laptop.

President Donald Trump signed so many executive orders that I forgot to write about this one.

Trump revoked the security clearances of the 51 intel officials who claimed Hunter Biden’s laptop “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

These people did everything they could to ensure former President Joe Biden defeated Trump in 2020.

Once Biden won, though, no one could contain the truth: The laptop belonged to Hunter, and everything on it belonged to him.

Well, all 51 of the officials refused to apologize for their letter. The officials helped themselves by crafting the letter to make it easy to shed any responsibility.

They said they had suspicions about it coming from Russia, but they never provided confirmation.

They no longer have security clearances. The list includes James Clapper, Leon Panetta, Jeremy Bash (ex-husband of CNN’s Dana Bash), John Bolton, and John Brennan.

The executive order stated:

Section 1. Purpose. In the closing weeks of the 2020 Presidential campaign, at least 51 former intelligence officials coordinated with the Biden campaign to issue a letter discrediting the reporting that President Joseph R. Biden’s son had abandoned his laptop at a computer repair business. Signatories of the letter falsely suggested that the news story was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

Before being issued, the letter was sent to the CIA Prepublication Classification Review Board, the body typically assigned to formally evaluate the sensitive nature of documents prior to publication. Senior CIA officials were made aware of the contents of the letter, and multiple signatories held clearances at the time and maintained ongoing contractual relationships with the CIA.

Federal policymakers must be able to rely on analysis conducted by the Intelligence Community and be confident that it is accurate, crafted with professionalism, and free from politically motivated engineering to affect political outcomes in the United States. The signatories willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions.

This fabrication of the imprimatur of the Intelligence Community to suppress information essential to the American people during a Presidential election is an egregious breach of trust reminiscent of a third world country. And now the faith of Americans in all other patriotic intelligence professionals who are sworn to protect the Nation has been imperiled.

National security is also damaged by the publication of classified information. Former National Security Advisor John R. Bolton published a memoir for monetary gain after he was terminated from his White House position in 2019. The book was rife with sensitive information drawn from his time in government. The memoir’s reckless treatment of sensitive information undermined the ability of future presidents to request and obtain candid advice on matters of national security from their staff. Publication also created a grave risk that classified material was publicly exposed.

To remedy these abuses of the public trust, this Order directs the revocation of any active or current security clearances held by: (i) the former intelligence officials who engaged in misleading and inappropriate political coordination with the 2020 Biden presidential campaign; and (ii) John R. Bolton.

Lawmakers Introduce Measure Outlawing Federal Gun Registry

The threat of gun registration has long been a concern for U.S. gun owners, and for a very good reason: registration always leads to confiscation. Now, two U.S. lawmakers have introduced legislation to prevent any potential gun registration schemes in the future.

On January 16, U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, introduced the “No Retaining Every Gun In a System that Restricts Your (REGISTRY) Rights Act.” Although its name is somewhat awkward, this legislation is commendable as it would prevent the U.S. government from establishing a federal firearms registry.

Among other things, the act would require the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to eliminate all existing firearm transaction records, permit federal firearms licensees (FFLs) to destroy transaction records upon going out of business and prevent the ATF from establishing or maintaining a firearms registry in the future.

The weaponized ATF’s overreach in implementing several new final rules under the Biden Administration was the impetus for the introduction of the measure.

“The ATF’s excessive overreach has gone unchecked for too long,” Sen. Risch said in a press release announcing the legislation. “Idaho’s law-abiding gun owners should not be subject to an already illegal federal firearms registry. The Second Amendment is not conditional to a list of guns in circulation and their owners. All law-abiding Americans have the undeniable right to keep and bear arms. My No REGISTRY Rights Act will safeguard this essential liberty for generations to come.”

Rep. Cloud, the measure’s sponsor in the U.S. House of Representatives, said that Americans’ right to keep and bear arms should not be subject to a government inventory.

“The Second Amendment is a cornerstone of individual liberty, and no administration—Republican or Democrat—should have the ability to compile a list of law-abiding gun owners,” Cloud said. “The Biden administration’s backdoor attempts to create a federal firearms registry are a clear threat to Americans’ privacy and constitutional freedoms. The No REGISTRY Rights Act will dismantle the ATF’s existing database and ensure such a registry can never be implemented.”

In April 2022, the Biden Administration issued a final rule requiring that FFLs retain all firearm transaction records indefinitely. Since 1984, federal regulations have permitted FFLs to discard records older than 20 years, as the “time-to-crime”—the interval between a firearm’s last known legal sale and its use in a crime—rarely exceeds two decades.

Risch and Cloud were joined in introducing the No REGISTRY Rights Act by Republican U.S. senators Mike Crapo of Idaho, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy of Montana, Roger Marshall of Kansas), Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi and 47 members of the House of Representatives.

Without a repeal of, or a court finding that, the underpinning laws that empower the bureaucraps, another agency will simply take over enforcement. A new director, like a Brandon Herrera or Blake Masters would have the opportunity to gut the bureau from the inside out.

President Trump should help destroy the ATF
It’s time to end the ATF before they kill another law-abiding American.

by Lee Williams

President Donald Trump’s election victory was made possible by millions of gun owners who are still angry about the treatment they received from Joe Biden and his antigun ilk in the ATF.

Biden and whoever was actually calling the shots targeted legitimate gun owners and gun dealers like it was cool—like it was a game. Biden even allowed these illegitimate forces to establish an antigun office right inside his White House. They met regularly with senior members of the antigun industry.

This civil rights abuse was totally ignored by the mainstream media because the “journalists” themselves were all antigun and totally on board with Team Biden.

The ATF has a long and blood-soaked history. In addition to the more than 80 lives lost at Waco—which includes 20 children—a Deputy U.S. Marshal and Randy Weaver’s wife and son were killed during ATF’s Ruby Ridge fiasco. The ATF’s “Fast and Furious” scheme resulted in the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and hundreds of Mexican nationals, who were killed by the weapons ATF allowed to walk straight into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels. The ATF has never fully addressed or apologized for these needless deaths that its agents caused.

Nowadays, there are scores of examples of ATF crews laughing and joking with each other as they tear apart the homes of law-abiding folks who had done nothing wrong. The latest was Mark “Choppa” Manley, who along with his wife and children is lucky to have survived an early morning ATF search warrant that found nothing wrong. All of Manly’s firearms were legal and complied with both state and federal law.

Thankfully, Manley recognized that armed ATF agents were taking tactical positions outside his home and put down his handgun right before they beat down his front door, threw two flashbang grenades and stormed inside. Bryan Malinowski never had that opportunity. The Arkansas airport director assumed that criminals had entered his home during the early morning hours of March 19, 2024. Malinowski grabbed a pistol and fired several rounds. ATF shot and killed the 53-year-old, who had absolutely zero prior criminal history.

For decades, the gun community has talked about dumping the ATF, but the agency still exists, and its unlawful and deadly actions continue to this day. Under Biden, the agency actually got much worse.

Their deadly and loathsome raids add further proof that the ATF can never be trusted again. It has become more dangerous than the criminals it allegedly tries to target. Thankfully, Congress has a bill in the works to dump the agency. Representatives Eric Burlison (R-MO-07) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO-04) recently introduced H.R. 221, legislation that is simple and succinct: “The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is hereby abolished.”

According to its FY2022 budget, the ATF had around 5,000 employees, a little more than half were armed special agents. The rest were Industry Operations Investigators, who make life hell for gun shop owners, and other clerical and professional staff. They operated on a budget of $1.5 billion taxpayer dollars.

Years ago, there were ATF agents who supported guns and our gun rights—older agents who didn’t let their administrators push them into breaking the law. But after four years of Biden and his chosen joke of an ATF director, these agents are mostly gone. They were replaced by younger antigun bureaucrats.

If President Trump truly wants to take historic action, he will help end the ATF immediately, before another American is needlessly shot and killed, which is guaranteed to happen.

This Gun Store Owner Just Forced the ATF to Reverse an Anti-Gun ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy

Score another victory for gun rights. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has reversed its “zero tolerance” policy created under the Biden administration to infringe on the right to keep and bear arms.

The policy allowed the ATF to revoke the licenses of firearms dealers who make common clerical errors on their paperwork. Several small gun shops have been forced out of business because of the rule.

Michael Cargill, owner of Central Texas Gun Works, joined with the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) in a lawsuit against the White House over the unconstitutional measure. The Biden administration capitulated before the lawsuit could be decided in the courts and reverted back to the previous policy, which only allows the ATF to revoke licenses for “willful” offenses, not small clerical errors, according to a press release issued by the TPPF.

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Mike Waltz to Clean Out Deep Staters from National Security Council: ‘We’re Taking Resignations at 12:01’ on January 20.

ncoming National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told Breitbart News exclusively that every intelligence official from the various departments and agencies across the federal government currently detailed to the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House under outgoing President Joe Biden will be expected to vacate the premises by 12:01 p.m. Eastern on Inauguration Day when President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated again.

Waltz, in a phone interview earlier this week, told Breitbart News that he is making sure everyone understands that it’s “crystal clear what the agenda is.”

“Everybody is going to resign at 12:01 on January 20,” Waltz said. “We’re working through our process to get everybody their clearances and through the transition process now. Our folks know who we want out in the agencies, we’re putting those requests in, and in terms of the detailees they’re all going to go back.”

The way the NSC works is the National Security Advisor oversees a team of political appointees from the president who oversee a wide range of what are called “detailees”—people who work at the various agencies and departments across the federal government who are assigned, or detailed, to work at the White House for a period of time on the NSC in a portfolio in which they demonstrate expertise. These career intelligence officials come from places as wide-ranging as the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the Pentagon, and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and report up to the political appointees atop each major portfolio in the NSC. The NSC has various issue-specific portfolios like counterterrorism and cyber policy as well as regional portfolios focused on things like the western hemisphere or the Middle East or Europe or Asia. The detailees then help coordinate back to the various agencies and departments so the whole federal government executes on the decisions that the president makes.

One of the major problems Trump faced in his first term came from inside the NSC with some of these detailees, as the person who spearheaded the first impeachment of Trump—Alexander Vindman—was one such person. Waltz told Breitbart News that he is taking very serious steps to ensure that there are no more Vindmans. From this point forward, he said, anyone who gets a detailee position on the NSC will be on board with the president’s agenda.

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“You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing.”
—Thomas Sowell.

If the underlying laws and regulations are not also dealt with, the enforcement of them will simply fall to another bunch of bureaucraps.
Otherwise, it’s just another example of Political Kabuki Theater.

Rep. Lauren Boebert Introduces Bill to Abolish the ATF

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R) has introduced legislation to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

The bill is H.R. 129 and it comes at a point when Republicans are just weeks away from holding the House, Senate and White House.

Newsweek noted Boebert’s push to do away with the agency is the latest in line of Republican pushes to see the agency undone.

For example, in November 2024, Rep. Eric Burlison (R) called for the agency to be abolished as well.

On November 25, 2024, Breitbart News reported that Burlison told FOX News the ATF is “a disaster.”

He said, “For several decades they’ve been a disaster agency [which has] been violating the Second Amendment.”

The ATF issued numerous rules during the Biden/Harris administration, one of which criminalized owners of legally purchased AR-pistol stabilizer braces. Another one of the ATF’s rules declared that 80 percent complete firearm frames are firearms and therefore can only be acquired via background checks. Yet another ATF rule circumvented Congress via new regulations against private gun sales.

On January 2, 2024, Breitbart News pointed out that Biden’s ATF director, Steven Dettelbach, tendered his resignation effective January 18, 2025, two days before Trump retakes the White House.

Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms chairman Alan Gottlieb cheered the resignation, saying, “That’s one less person Trump will have to fire after he takes office, and it is one less gun prohibition lobbyist on the government payroll.”