By Katherine Tinsley
1:11pm PDT, Apr 10, 2025
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Kash Patel was quietly let go from his role as director of the Bureau of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) after the attorney struggled to balance his work with the organization and the FBI.
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"Director Kash Patel was briefly designated ATF Director while awaiting Senate confirmations — a standard, short-term move. Dozens of similar re-designations have occurred across the federal government," White House spokesman Harrison Fields said in an email.
"Director Patel is now excelling in his role at the FBI and delivering outstanding results," Fields continued.
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While it hasn't been confirmed why Kash Patel needed to be relieved of his duties, social media users assumed it might've had something to do with the FBI director attempting to work remotely from Nevada.
"So, FBI Director Kash Patel has been running the entire FBI from his house in Las Vegas? He's really leading one of the most powerful law enforcement agencies in the country remotely, phoning it in like it was just another Zoom job," one X user wrote.
"Kash Patel being removed because he just didn't bother showing up to the office is this administration in a nutshell," another X user claimed.
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Kash Patel hasn't addressed the change in his responsibilities, though he celebrated the FBI's recent $509 million drug seizure in Florida.
"This is what it looks like when a United States whole-of-government approach brings every resource to bare," Patel said in a press conference on Wednesday, April 9. "They are going to get all the drugs off the streets, off the markets — and we are going to lock them up."
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X users were annoyed with Kash Patel's enthusiasm for the Florida drug bust.
"This operation has been in the works for two years," one X user wrote.
"Yeah the last administration had record drug seizures," another X user stated. "It's your job."
