Obama’s ATF Nomination Sent to Full Senate

President Barack Obama's nomination of B. Todd Jones to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been sent to the full Senate.

Obama picked Jones to lead the ATF following the mass shooting in December at a Connecticut elementary school where 26 people, including 20 children, were killed. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the choice Thursday in a 10-8 vote that fell strictly along party lines.

The full Senate has never confirmed an ATF chief since it was given the power to do so in 2006. Jones has been the agency's acting director since 2011 and is also the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota.

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