{"id":114979,"date":"2026-02-07T09:38:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T15:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=114979"},"modified":"2026-02-07T09:38:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T15:38:38","slug":"114979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=114979","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

President Trump\u2019s ATF pick clears Senate hearing easily<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

by Lee Williams<\/p>\n

New York state native turned Floridian Robert Cekada spent just over two hours Wednesday along with four judicial candidates testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley.<\/p>\n

By all accounts, Cekada passed the test, and he will likely become the next Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Cekada has had an extensive career protecting Americans at the state and federal level,\u201d Grassley said. \u201cHe served a decade as a police officer, receiving numerous awards. He has also spent two decades at the ATF. He knows how to lead the Bureau because he\u2019s worked tirelessly throughout the chain of command.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grassley noted that his committee has received dozens of letters endorsing Cekada for the ATF leadership position, and that Cekada worked closely with his office after an ATF whistleblower revealed ATF\u2019s misclassification scheme and other improper practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Cekada worked closely with my staff to bring this resolution forward, to make sure no more taxpayer dollars were wasted,\u201d Grassley said. \u201cI commend his fine leadership and aggressive actions to find a solution for this brave whistleblower, and I encourage him to allow more whistleblowers to come forward, to help him understand what\u2019s going on in the Bureau.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cekada started his law enforcement career in 1992 as a cadet for the New York City Police Department, where in 1999 he became a detective assigned to the department\u2019s Organized Crime Control Bureau. He has also worked as an officer in Florida, until he joined the ATF in 2005, as a special agent in the Baltimore Field Division. His rise up ATF\u2019s chain of command was swift. In May of last year, he became the ATF\u2019s Deputy Director\u2014it\u2019s number two position.<\/p>\n

Cekada\u2019s testimony<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Senator Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, introduced Cekada to the committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had the opportunity to get to know Rob, who is in my view the consummate lawman,\u201d Moran said. \u201cHe\u2019s worked beats in New York City, rose through the ranks, and believes in enforcement of law and public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moran testified that the ATF is now an agency that insures violent criminals are jailed. He quoted former Attorney General William Barr, who described the ATF as a \u201ccan-do agency,\u201d which is worthy of support.<\/p>\n

\u201cRobert Cekada is a great nominee to be the next director of the ATF,\u201d Moran said. \u201cI hope you find him favorable to serve in this capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cekada testified that his parents fled from communist Yugoslavia in 1966 and became American citizens in 1973.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are no longer with us,\u201d Cekada said. \u201cThey believed deeply in what this country represents.\u201d<\/p>\n

He told the Senate committee that his entire career has focused on \u201ckeeping people safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cATF\u2019s dire mission is public safety. If confirmed, my foremost concern will be making sure ATF supports President Trump\u2019s mandate to make America safer by remaining relentlessly focused on violent crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legitimate gun owners, Cekada stressed, can stop worrying about the ATF.<\/p>\n

\u201cATF\u2019s mission is not a burden to lawful gun owners or to undermine the Second Amendment,\u201d he said. \u201cThe right to keep and bear arms is a constitutional guarantee, and I am committed to protecting and preserving it. Effective law enforcement and respect for civil liberties are not competing goals. They are inseparable obligations. I am equally committed to supporting the men and women of the ATF. They deserve clear mission focus and strong leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senators\u2019 questions<\/p>\n

Senator Grassley led the committee in questioning Cekada.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are your top priorities for the Bureau, if confirmed?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe top priorities for the ATF will remain violent crime, illegal use of firearms, explosives and the illegal use of arson,\u201d Cekada said in response. \u201cWe will modernize critical systems, forms and licensing systems, which are over 25 years old and unnecessarily burden people, and we will follow President Trump\u2019s Second Amendment order to review all of ATF\u2019s rules to make sure we don\u2019t infringe upon Americans unnecessarily.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois told Cekada he had heard that two-thirds of ATF agents, 1,178 of 2,500, had been assigned to enforce immigration.<\/p>\n

Cekada said the actual number was around 75 to 100.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe remainder focus of fighting violent crime throughout the country on a daily basis,\u201d Cekada said. \u201cI support using agents to fight violent crime, specifically fighting gangs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah asked about restrictions in place on suppressors, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the ATF\u2019s perspective, the ATF is bound by law,\u201d Cekada said. \u201cIf Congress moves suppressors out of the (Gun Control Act), the ATF would be supportive of that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, brought up the Memphis Safe Task Force, which has cut crime in the city by 50-percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cATF is a proud partner of the Memphis Safe Task Force,\u201d Cekada said. \u201cOur small team is a significant contributor. We have the ability to use crime gun intelligence. ATF is not driving around neighborhoods or going through people\u2019s homes looking to burden families with our enforcement actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senator Corey Booker, D-New Jersey, like Senator Durbin, falsely believed that most of Cekada\u2019s ATF agents were assigned to the Department of Homeland Security to enforce immigration.<\/p>\n

As proof, Booker mentioned a news article he had read in the Trace\u2014a notoriously anti-gun online group paid for by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. Booker said the Trace story quoted a former ATF agent named Hamilton. He had the story placed into the Senate record.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no clue about who this Mr. Hamilton is, but I challenge his statement,\u201d Cekada said. \u201cWe do have only about 100 people working immigration enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

California\u2019s Democratic Senator Adam Schiff asked if ATF is seeing a trend with \u201cghost guns,\u201d which Cekada said the ATF now refers to as \u201cprivately made firearms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cekada said his agents have seen privately made firearms and auto-sears, but they are primarily found in jurisdictions with strict firearm restrictions. ATF\u2019s laboratory located in Maryland has found a way to identify them based on their polymers.<\/p>\n

Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley touted some of the country\u2019s strongest Second Amendment protections found in his home state, which came under fire during the Biden Administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cBiden\u2019s DOJ asked a sheriff for a list of his CCW holders,\u201d Hawley said. \u201cWhy do you need records of CCW holders in Missouri? Can you commit that under your leadership ATF will go in a different direction than the last administration? That you\u2019ll focus your law enforcement resources on criminals? As opposed to law abiding citizens who have rights under both the federal and state constitutions?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSenator, I can assure you that under my watch the ATF has been 1,000-percent successful in going after people who have committed violent crimes. We\u2019re not here to burden the American citizen who has a complete right to exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms, and we will not do that in the future if I am so confirmed,\u201d Cekada said. \u201cUnlike some prior ATF directors, I will still be a sworn law enforcement officer. I\u2019ve done this job from a ground level police officer to a task force officer with the Attorney General. I\u2019m not telling people to go out and make the cases. I\u2019ve made the cases myself. I know what it takes. Because we\u2019re a small agency, I\u2019ve worked with every ATF agent that\u2019s out there making cases. We all know each other. We know to stay focused on violent criminals. That\u2019s what you pay us for, and we will continue to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Trump\u2019s ATF pick clears Senate hearing easily by Lee Williams New York state native turned Floridian Robert Cekada spent just over two hours Wednesday along with four judicial candidates testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley. By all accounts, Cekada passed the test, and he will … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bureaucraps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114980,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114979\/revisions\/114980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}