According to internal budget details leaked to Reuters, the White House’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget would slash ATF funding from $1.625 billion to just $1.2 billion—a reduction of over 25 percent, and the agency’s lowest budget allocation since at least 2016.
The move represents a dramatic course correction from the Biden-era Department of Justice, which expanded ATF enforcement, flooded the agency with funding, and weaponized it against both law-abiding gun owners and small firearms dealers under the guise of “public safety.”
Under President Trump, the ATF appears headed in the opposite direction—and for gun rights advocates, it’s not a moment too soon.
From Gun Control Enforcer to Budget Victim
During the Biden years, the ATF morphed into a blunt-force weapon against Second Amendment freedoms—unilaterally reclassifying stabilizing braces, launching “zero tolerance” shutdowns of FFLs for paperwork errors, and working hand-in-glove with the White House on backdoor gun registration schemes through the so-called “dealer in firearms” rule.
Under Trump’s leadership, the agency is now seeing its power and resources stripped down dramatically.
The proposed budget also includes potential staffing freezes, training halts, and even a review of merging the ATF with the DEA, a move that would all but dissolve ATF as a standalone enforcement agency.
If implemented, these changes would kneecap the agency’s ability to continue harassing gun owners and businesses across the country—something millions of gun owners have been demanding for years.
A Step in the Right Direction—But Not the End Goal
While the White House’s proposed cuts represent a major win for gun rights, grassroots activists are making it clear: trimming the ATF is not enough.
The goal remains total abolition of the agency and a full repeal of the National Firearms Act (NFA)—a law the ATF has routinely exploited to criminalize ordinary Americans for owning braced pistols, suppressors, or short-barreled rifles.
“This is the strongest step yet from the Trump administration in dismantling the bureaucratic machinery used to attack the Second Amendment,” said Chris McNutt, President of Texas Gun Rights.
Gun rights groups argue that Congress must act quickly, especially while Republicans still control both chambers. The midterm elections are less than a year away, and political winds can shift overnight.
Time is Running Out
The proposed budget cuts represent more than just a fiscal policy—they’re a political opportunity.
With Republican majorities in the House and Senate, now is the time to pass H.R. 221, the bill to abolish the ATF, and H.R. 335, which would repeal the NFA and end federal overreach into firearms classifications once and for all.
Failure to act during this narrow window could allow the ATF to reconstitute itself under future administrations, and gun owners could once again find themselves in the agency’s crosshairs.
President Trump’s bold budget proposal has opened the door. Now it’s up to Congress—and the American people—to kick it off the hinges.
