According to US officials, Kash Patel, who was sworn in as FBI Director on February 21 and named acting ATF director three days later, has been removed from his later appointment and replaced by Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll. The leadership change, initially reported by Reuters, had not yet been disclosed publically by the DOJ. Patel remains at the helm of the FBI, and as I write this article, his photo is still listed as acting Director on the ATF’s website. 

Although no official reason has been given for Patel’s removal, a Justice Department official has reportedly confirmed the departure saying it “had nothing to do with his job performance,” according to the NBC. The Daily Beast seems to infer that Patel was let go because “he stopped showing up” and had not been “seen inside an ATF facility for weeks.” Meanwhile, Glenn Thrush of the New York Times reports Patel was removed because he is inundated with his duties at the FBI. Fox News Digital claims a close source told them that Patel was removed because he wanted to focus on the FBI. 

“It was never supposed to be a long-term thing. He was happy to serve, of course, but his job is the director of the FBI,” according to the source.

It is unknown how or when the decision was made or when either Patel or Driscoll was notified, however, the move comes at an interesting time as senior Justice Department officials are currently considering merging the ATF with the DEA to streamline government spending. Multiple sources familiar with the decision confirm that Driscoll will remain in his post as US Army Secretary while taking on his new role, a unique circumstance but certainly not relative to sitting at the head of two major Justice Department agencies simultaneously. 

Also on the relevant agenda is the DOJ’s surge to protect Second Amendment rights under Attorney General Pam Bondi, who recently launched a task force to enforce the Constitutionally enshrined right to bear arms which she said would consist of ATF personnel, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and additional representatives from the DOJ. Formation of the task force along with the hiring of Second Amendment scholar and law professor 

Robert Leider as ATF Chief Counsel and Assistant Director, the reversal of acting U.S. Attorney Michael Simpson’s argument against silencers being protected by the Second Amendment, the reinstatement of the Second Amendment rights restoration provision for the first time since 1992, the DOJ opening of an investigation into the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over CCW wait times, and the repeal of the ATF’s “Zero Tolerance Policy” all follow President Trump’s February 7 Executive Order, Protecting Second Amendment Rights.

Driscoll served as an officer in the Army for approximately four years, during which he served as an armor officer between August 2007 and March 2011 and a cavalry scout platoon leader with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum. He deployed to Iraq for nine months in October 2009. After retiring as a first lieutenant, Driscoll went on to receive a law degree from Yale University and worked in private equity and venture capital.

It’s unclear how this leadership change at the ATF will affect the agency’s regulation of the firearms industry or why Driscoll got the call, however, CBS reports that the Army Secretary is a close friend and former adviser to Vice President JD Vance. Additional information is sure to be released in the coming days as we learn more about his background and views on the Second Amendment. With any luck, his appointment will reveal a focused mission to participate in Pam Bondi and the DOJ’s initiative to restore and defend American gun rights.