The Senate Judiciary Committee split along party lines in their vote to advance his nomination to a full Senate vote.
Republicans spoke out prior in opposition to his nomination.
Senator Chuck Grassley said, “Mr. Chipman wants to ban assault weapons, this nomination is like a Republican putting the NRA in charge of ATF.”
Democrats also spoke out in favor of his nomination.
Senator Dianne Feinstein said that Chipman was the “leader that ATF needs.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said in a statement “This nomination is a test. Can we put someone in charge of the ATF?”
What does this split vote mean?
While Chipman has been defeated, for now, the Democrats and gun grabbers in Congress can still figure out a way to push him through if they try hard enough.
This split vote in the confirmation means that if Democrats want to proceed with this nominee then they have to jump through a variety of procedural hurdles, if they do proceed that means they really believe that they can push him through the Senate.
