Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) intend to invoke the Holman rule to defund Steven Dettelbach, the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the lawmakers wrote in a letter Monday.
The lawmakers slammed the ATF in a letter to House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX), claiming the bureau has shut down gun stores over “innocent” clerical errors.
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“The ATF has even made it a matter of official policy to shut down gun stores by making perfection the standard in record keeping – a standard the ATF itself could not meet,” the conservative pair wrote.
“Since the Biden Administration has announced its new ‘zero tolerance’ policy in 2021, Federal Firearms Licensees have faced the highest revocation rate in 16 years. This policy has effectively become the death penalty for even the most innocent of clerical errors,” they added.
The duo said they plan to invoke the Holman rule, which gives Congress the power to defund federal programs and fire or cut the salary of government employees through appropriation amendments during the next House appropriations period.
Both lawmakers have attempted to defund the ATF in the past. Gaetz most recently introduced legislation to defund the bureau in January, seeking to eliminate the government agency if they made pistol stabilizing braces illegal for everyone without a specific license.
Greene attempted to defund the agency in 2021 after the death of a former Marine and Border Patrol agent who died during a gunfight when armed men attempted to rob illegal drugs from smugglers. The smugglers were attempting to traffic the drugs from Mexico to the United States.
The lawmakers claimed it was time to hold ATF leadership accountable for allegedly abusing its authority in the widespread crackdown.
“The leadership at the ATF has proven unable or unwilling to see that the ATF respect the rule of law and not act where Congress has not legislated,” the pair wrote.
“Instead, the ATF abuses its rule making authority, legislating through the executive and making a mockery of the separation of powers mandated by the Constitution. … We must force a change,” they continued.
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The new letter was announced during a congressional accountability field hearing on Monday led by Gaetz and Greene. The hearing was held to highlight the alleged weaponization of the bureau and draw attention to its alleged heightened targeting of federal firearms licensees.
Several firearms dealers at the hearing testified that they felt “targeted” by the government agency in its crackdowns.
