It’s expected that all 50 Senate Republicans will vote to oppose Chipman’s confirmation. From the sounds of this Washington Post article, there’s at least a handful of Democrats in the same boat:
The White House and Senate Democrats are struggling to secure support in their own ranks to install David Chipman as head of the [ATF] […]
[…]A month has passed since Chipman’s nomination deadlocked in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a handful of Democratic senators from states friendly to gun rights have declined to far to support him[…]
[…]On Tuesday, Durbin — who is also the Senate Democrats’ whip, or chief vote-counter — acknowledged again that the votes are not there yet for Chipman to win confirmation.
With the Senate split 50/50, they’d require all 50 Dems to vote “yes” for Chipman to get him confirmed. It sounds like Angus King (I-ME), Jon Tester (D-MT), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and likely others are on the “no” side of the fence.
Frankly, it’s shocking that Chipman’s nomination has lasted this long. He’s so radical, has so many issues and so much baggage, I think it’s fair to say that we expected him to be rejected long ago. But, alas, defeating his nomination isn’t a done deal so you need to call your representatives — Senate (and Congress also, just ‘cuz), D and R alike — and tell them they need to actively oppose Chipman’s nomination.
For more info, visit www.FightChipman.com
Update: an earlier version of this article included a photo originally thought to be of Chipman, but which is now accepted to be a photo of somebody else. I did not realize this was the case when I pulled the photo from media archives. It has been removed and replaced with a new photo that is most definitely of Mr. Chipman. — Jeremy S.