ALG blasts Senate for paving way for new ATF director

July 31, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement reacting to the U.S. Senate invoking cloture on the nomination of Byron Todd Jones to be the next director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms:

“The Senate should not confirm any nominee that has an open investigation by the Office of Special Counsel complaint for whistleblower retaliation. If the allegations are true, Jones fits right in with the Obama Administration. This is the same administration that slow walks Freedom of Information Act requests, targets news reporters with sweeping search warrants and baseless charges of espionage, and throws the books at whistleblowers exposing the government for what it is. But that does not mean the U.S. Senate needs to be a party to it.

“Jones should have been made the poster child for the most opaque administration since Richard Nixon. Jones should have been delayed in committee until the whistleblower retaliation investigation was concluded. Senate Democrats think they can get anyone confirmed now ever since Senate Republicans took the filibuster off the table against executive nominees. Already we can see what a mistake that was. Republicans had the votes to defeat Jones and then Sen. Lisa Murkowski switched her vote at the last minute to honor the ‘no filibuster’ rule. Advice and consent is dead. Jones is only the beginning of the rubber stamp Senate.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (202) 744-4427 or at media@algnews.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Nathan Mehrens.

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