The White House said it “absolutely worked” to secure the votes necessary for President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, arguing that Republican obstructionism had doomed the nominee’s bid.
“We absolutely worked to get [David Chipman] confirmed, but we weren’t naive about it,” press secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday. The White House pulled the nomination soon after Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said he would not vote to confirm Chipman.
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“We moved historically quickly; there was a whole team of multiple people behind him,” Psaki said, adding that only one ATF director had ever been confirmed to the post.
Chipman has criticized the administration’s efforts, telling the New York Times that “he found it ‘unusual’ that he spoke to no one at the White House from the moment he was nominated.”
“Either this was impossible to win, or the strategy failed,” Chipman said. “This was a failure.”
Biden’s pick faced a bruising nomination, where he was assailed for his ties to Giffords, a gun violence prevention group run by former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, and allegations that he made racist comments during an earlier stint at the agency.
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Psaki said the administration is now “engaged with him about working to find a job in the administration.”
“We share David Chipman’s frustration that he wasn’t confirmed,” Psaki said.
