ATF Director Announces Resignation

Less than two years after a contentious Senate confirmation vote, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Director B. Todd Jones announced his resignation Friday, reports USA Today .

Jones, who in 2013 became the first permanent director for the agency in seven years, is set to leave the 5,000-member agency March 31.

Prior to his confirmation, the former U.S. attorney in Minneapolis had been serving as interim director since 2011, taking over an agency that had been rocked by a botched gun trafficking investigation that allowed hundreds of firearms to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartel enforcers.

"ATF employees are hard-working, dedicated individuals who serve the public to make our nation safer every day," Jones said in a statement. "I will truly miss leading and working side-by-side with these men and women in their pursuit of ATF's unique law enforcement and regulatory mission.''