Obama's ATF Nomination Sent To Full Senate

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 20 children and six adults were killed. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the choice Thursday in a 10-8 vote 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.

White House press secretary Jay Carney urged the Senate to "swiftly" confirm Jones and give the ATF "all the tools it needs to help keep Americans safe."

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