Senate Republicans Shut Down ATF Nominee

Chuck Canterbury, President Trump's nominee to serve as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, is likely to see his nomination withdrawn due to stringent opposition from Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Washington Free Beacon learned on Thursday.

"Chuck Canterbury does NOT have sufficient support in the Judiciary Committee and is now expected to be held up instead of getting a vote today," a GOP Senate aide told the Free Beacon on Thursday morning. "Republican members are (1) Concerned about his stances on gun control, and (2) there is still some bad blood for him flipping the Fraternal Order of Police in support of the First Step Act (after opposing the more moderate version), allegedly in exchange for the ATF Director nomination."

"His 2A views are bad and he'd lose a lot of votes in committee," a second Senate source told the Free Beacon. "We expect the White House will pull him given lack of support from Republicans on the Judiciary Committee."

At least one Republican senator, Utah's Mike Lee, seemed to agree with this assessment when reached for comment.