The Biden White House is arguing that the Republican push to defund the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) actually helps Mexican cartels.
NBC News noted that former President Donald Trump called for defunding federal law enforcement, and Breitbart News pointed out that various Republican House members are set on stopping certain ATF rules–the pistol brace rule and others–by defunding the measures, thereby forcing the ATF to abandon them.
The Biden White House responded to these efforts by claiming Republicans are not only standing in the way of a fight against violent crime but are also adding the transport of illicit drugs into the country.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates made a statement further defending this claim:
MAGA Republican extremism in Congress is a growing threat to the fight against violent crime and fentanyl trafficking. President Biden is working hard to prevent the flow of firearms into the hands of drug cartels, as part of a comprehensive strategy to block the flow of fentanyl into the United States. But hardcore MAGA members of Congress are doing everything they can to thwart these efforts.
He added, “MAGA Republicans in Congress are trying to defund and abolish the ATF, the federal law enforcement agency responsible for helping stop the flow of firearms into the hands of gun traffickers.”
