As I have said in the past, you have to ask "what purpose does ATF currently serve"? Any high school student can be taught how to write an adopted case and they don't even need to go into the field. Any cop on the street has more intel and can seize a gun, record serial numbers and arrest felons with firearms. All this is usually at the cost of 1/3 that of what an agent makes. We don't do explosives cases and those rare arson cases are usually done better by locals fire departments.
So all this "super Fed" ideology of doing cases all over the country never happens. Very few cases matter or ever leave the local areas. If a big case is attempted, most likely it will be fucked up and everyone gets released and their stuff returned. The only ATF employees actually keeping the gun community honest are the inspectors checking FFL books. During my 25 years as an Agent I went from having great pride and loving the job to it being just a paycheck. After years of getting beat up by management and seeing incompetents rise to the top, I just gave up, did the bare minimum and could care less if the office burned down once I left for the day. I think many now feel the same. So many of the new agents hired now seem to be cocky little pricks who see everyone else as fucked up and individuals I would least give a gun to. Yes, I am cynical but Sooooo glad to be gone!!
My advise to anyone still on the job is to maximize your pay, minimize your effort and just remember that its only a pay check. Do nothing that will draw attention to yourself or get you hurt. Enjoy your family and be home for dinner each night, because all the rest is bullshit that does not matter!