Some of President Joe Biden’s nominees, such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, have been met with bipartisan praise. Some have been met with the typical partisan complaints by the party out of power. At least one, Twitter troll Neera Tanden, proved so toxic that she ultimately withdrew herself from consideration. But none — not even Xavier Becerra, our Health and Human Services secretary, nominated with zero healthcare experience during a pandemic — is less suited for a specific job than David Chipman, Biden’s nominee to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

At his Wednesday hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chipman could not define what constitutes an “assault weapon,” despite being asked by multiple Republicans. At one point, he seemed to concede that it’s whatever Congress decides it is. At another, he defined it as “any semi-automatic rifle capable of accepting a detachable magazine above the caliber of .22.” This definition would encompass the overwhelming majority of rifles in a nation where private individuals own hundreds of millions of rifles.