The Trump administration is very clear about its desire to streamline the federal government. DOGE has been on a tear, of course, and numerous federal agencies are either being downsized to more realistic sizes or are on the chopping block entirely.
And because of this, it looks like both the DEA and ATF may become a thing of the past.
Instead, the two agencies may be folded into the FBI, according to a memo from the Department of Justice.
The U.S. Justice Department is considering merging the lead agencies enforcing drug and gun laws in a major shakeup as it follows President Donald Trump's instructions to sharply streamline the government, according to a memo first reported by Reuters.In addition to potentially merging the Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, department leaders are considering eliminating field offices that handle antitrust, environmental and civil cases, according to the March 25 memo.A possible merger of the ATF and DEA into a single agency would "achieve efficiencies in resources, case deconfliction and regulatory efforts," the memo says.
Multiple advocacy organizations condemned the possible merger.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche ordered department officials in the memo to provide feedback to the proposed restructuring by April 2.
He said the plan for proposed cuts and mergers to various offices was previously provided to the Office of Personnel Management and the White House Office of Management and Budget.
While this makes a lot of sense as the agents involved in specialized areas of law enforcement would be available to focus on larger issues when the need arises, such as securing the border or dealing with terrorism, the laws the DEA and ATF currently are intended to enforce would still be enforced.
Probably better.
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This isn't the first hint of a potential merger between federal law enforcement agencies.
However, for this to really happen, it would require Congress to authorize it, and with the current makeup of the Senate, that's probably not likely. It's not that it would actually reduce the federal government's ability to enforce laws so much as they like having an agency that exists explicitly to enforce gun control laws and other anti-gun regulations.
They'll try to sell it as some kind of return to the Wild West and all, even though the duties would just become an FBI mission as opposed to an ATF mission.
That's the only thing that would change.
Which is part of why gun rights advocates aren't likely to get too excited by this. The FBI isn't exactly covered in glory after the last few years. Sure, there might be TV shows celebrating them, but most of us know that fiction isn't reality, so that's not helping alleviate any feelings developed after the FBI tried to undermine President Trump during his first term in office. Simply handing the ATF as it currently stands over to the FBI means that really nothing is going to change, which isn't what any Second Amendment supporter wants.
Instead, steps need to be taken to dismantle the regulatory authority the ATF has so that no one can continue with what they've done for decades now. Changing the letters making those decisions simply isn't enough.
