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“The president gets to pick who he wants to nominate,” Psaki added.
The White House did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment on if the administration is confident Chipman will be confirmed.
Chipman’s confirmation vote made it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee split down party lines, but his full Senate confirmation vote is less certain.
The president’s nominee has come under fire from current and former members of the ATF as well as Senate Republicans, who have warned about his previous comments on guns, gun laws and gun owners. Chipman has signaled his support for banning assault weapons and ending liability protections for gun manufacturers, as well as increasing inspections of federally licensed gun dealers.
Former ATF Director Michael Sullivan, as well as a current ATF member involved in training and a retired ATF deputy director who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, expressed concern that Biden’s nominee is too political to lead an unbiased agency.
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“I am concerned that somebody who has taken such a strong and hostile position against the Second Amendment, as well as gun owners and some of the most popular firearms in the United States, would be viewed as a political leader for an agency that, I think, has worked extremely hard to build the American public confidence in its handling of interpreting both the Gun Control Act and the various regulations around it,” Sullivan told Fox News.
There is a very real chance that Chipman’s confirmation comes down to the votes of a handful of Democratic senators, such as John Tester of Montana.
Fox News’ Audrey Conklin and David Spunt contributed to this report.
