( CNN ) -- A botched gun probe that allowed hundreds of weapons to reach Mexico 's drug cartels is likely to be a lingering but not fatal controversy for the Obama administration , observers said Wednesday . Republicans in Congress have been publicly pounding Justice Department officials since June , when whistleblowers from the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives testified to a House committee about the ill-fated `` Operation Fast and Furious . '' The operation , launched in 2009 , was aimed at cutting off the flow of guns to Mexico 's drug cartels through straw buyers , but it allowed about 2,000 weapons to reach the hands of the cartels . In December 2010 , two weapons sold under the Fast and Furious program were found at the scene of the killing of a Border Patrol agent in the Arizona desert . ATF agents kept their Mexican counterparts in the dark about the probe even as rising numbers of guns crossed the border , and about 1,400 firearms remain unaccounted for , the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee reported in July . Congressional committees and the Justice Department 's independent inspector-general are now looking into what happened , with Republicans accusing Attorney General Eric Holder of trying to stiff-arm investigators . But as embarrassing as `` Fast and Furious '' may be , it 's not in the same league as administration-threatening scandals like Watergate or the Harding administration 's Teapot Dome , University of Virginia analyst Larry Sabato said . `` The only scandals that matter in a presidential year are the ones that directly connect to a president , '' Sabato said . He added , `` Everybody admits it was a dumb idea , '' but similar programs were launched during the Bush administration . Nor does the controversy about `` Fast and Furious '' appear to be a mortal threat to anyone 's job at this point , said Peter Toren , a former federal prosecutor and Justice Department official . `` It 's certainly a black eye for the Justice Department , '' which oversees the ATF , Toren said . But he added , `` This is more of a botched operation rather than a scandal . '' The flap has so far resulted in the ouster of acting ATF chief Kenneth Melson and the resignation of the U.S. attorney for Arizona , Dennis Burke , in August . President Barack Obama told ABC News in October , `` People who screwed up will be held accountable . '' And Holder is likely to face tough questions about the matter next Tuesday , when he is slated to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee . The committee 's ranking Republican , Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley , is a leading critic of the probe . Republicans have recently questioned whether Holder misled Congress about when he learned about the program . Holder told the House Judiciary Committee in May that he had known about the Fast and Furious program for just a few weeks ; Republicans say recently released Justice Department documents show the attorney general actually knew about the program in July 2010 , but a memo to Holder that referenced the operation does not appear to contain any of the controversial tactics it employed . Toren said Republicans are `` understandably '' trying to lay the blame for the fiasco on Holder . But Holder does n't appear to have had `` intimate knowledge '' of the ATF program . `` There have been some suggestions that at least he knew something about it . He might have known the name , he might have been briefed that there was an operation , '' Toren said . `` I have n't seen anything that suggests that he should be held responsible for the program . '' Holder slapped back in an October letter reaffirming his testimony and calling GOP allegations about the program `` irresponsible and inflammatory . '' And he appears to have caught a break this week , when a top deputy told senators he failed to warn Holder and other Justice officials about the tactics used in `` Fast and Furious '' after a previous operation . Lanny Breuer , the assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division , told a Judiciary subcommittee he first learned of the tactic of allowing illegally purchased guns to leave gun shops in April 2010 , regarding a previous operation known as `` Wide Receiver . '' `` I wish that at that time that I had said clearly to the deputy attorney general and the attorney general that in this case , 'Wide Receiver , ' we had determined in 2006 and 2007 guns had 'walked . ' I did not do that , and I regret not doing that , '' Breuer admitted . Sabato said Breuer `` is taking one for the team '' by admitting the mistake . His testimony may not satisfy Republicans , but , `` There is n't a smoking gun here for somebody as high as Holder , '' Sabato said . Nevertheless , Toren said , it 's likely that the questions are going to keep coming as the investigations continue . `` I think it would be best to get out in front of it , say what really happened and let the chips fall where they may , '' he said .
` ` ' Fast and Furious '' saw hundreds of guns in Mexico , investigators say . Attorney General Eric Holder is likely to face tough questions at an upcoming Senate hearing . The botched ATF probe is a ` ` black eye '' for the Justice Department , former official says . But the controversy is not likely to become a major scandal , analyst told CNN .