U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris speak as they walk into the Oval Office after an event to announce measures by Biden's administration to fight ghost gun crime, at the White House, in Washington, U.S., April 11, 2022.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris speak as they walk into the Oval Office after an event to announce measures by Biden's administration to fight ghost gun crime, at the White House, in Washington, U.S., April 11, 2022. Reuters / KEVIN LAMARQUE

The U.S. Senate voted to confirm President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on Tuesday, making career prosecutor Steve Dettelbach only the second person to be confirmed as the agency's director in 16 years.

Dettelbach, a former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio and currently a partner at the law firm BakerHostetler, was confirmed in a 48-46 vote, with Republicans Susan Collins and Rob Portman joining with Democrats to support his nomination.

He is Biden's second choice to lead the agency. The prior nominee, former ATF agent and gun-control advocate David Chipman, was forced to withdraw following fierce opposition from gun groups and an online disinformation campaign.

Dettelbach has pledged to lead the bureau in a nonpartisan manner, but several Republicans have said they are still concerned over his views on gun regulations.

The ATF, part of the U.S. Justice Department, is both a law enforcement agency and a regulatory office.

Its lead role in regulating firearms in America has made it the target of the powerful gun lobby, which fiercely opposes efforts to tighten U.S. gun laws.

Since the role of the ATF director became a position requiring Senate confirmation in 2006, only one person - Democratic President Barack Obama's nominee B. Todd Jones - has ever won confirmation.

The rest of that time, it has been led by a string of acting directors, hobbling its ability to propose and adopt tougher gun regulations.

Democratic senators and anti-gun violence group Brady praised the confirmation.

"While certainly not a panacea to the gun violence epidemic plaguing our nation, having Mr. Dettelbach at the helm of the ATF will ensure the feds have all hands on deck in the fight to stop gun trafficking, prevent illegal possession of firearms, and make sure our kids can't get their hands on dangerous weapons," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

Schumer was not in Washington for the vote because he had tested positive for COVID-19.

Biden commended the Senate for confirming Dettelbach, saying in a statement that the new ATF director would play a key role in implementing a recently passed bipartisan gun safety bill.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, meanwhile, said in a statement he is confident Dettelbach "will lead ATF with integrity, dedication, and skill."

Biden said he would continue to try to push Congress to adopt other measures to stem gun violence, such as banning assault weapons and expanding background checks. It is unlikely that Congress would pass further gun control legislation in the near term.