Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, or ATF, Mr. B. Todd Jones, has been confirmed by the US Senate to be the first, full-fledged Director of the agency since the post was realigned to require Senate confirmation in 2006. Just days after the NRA expressed neutrality in the Jones confirmation process, Jones supporters were able to garner the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster and move on to the confirmation vote when Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) switched her vote. Murkowski wasn’t the only Republican to cross over on the vote though; AZ Senator John McCain led the Republican delegation which included Lindsay Graham (SC), Kelly Ayotte (NH), Susan Collins (ME), and Mark Kirk (IL).
The rest of the Republicans in the Democrat-controlled Senate voted to maintain the filibuster that was blocking the Jones appointment. After Murkowski changed her vote, Harry Reid held the voting open for a near-record 5 hours waiting for ND Democrat Heidi Heitkamp to arrive to cast the final vote for closing debate and moving on to the actual confirmation vote. The final confirmation vote only required a simple majority and was an easy victory for the Democrats. Echoing John Kerry’s statement that he voted against a measure before voting for it, most of the Republicans who had voted to close debate turned around and voted against final confirmation.
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