DOJ Looks to Possibly Merge the DEA and ATF, Memo Reveals
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US Justice Department considers merging DEA, ATF in major shakeup, a memo says. This comes amidst previous comments by FBI Director Kash Patel of combining a portion of the ATF into the FBI. FBI Director Kash Patel is also serving as the ATF’s Acting Director, in an unusual dual role.
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. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche ordered department officials in the memo to provide feedback to the proposed restructuring by April 2.
Reuters previously reported the Justice Department was considering drastically scaling back staffing in the Public Integrity Section, which handles the department’s most politically sensitive public corruption cases. Several of its attorneys had resigned in protest after a top Justice Department official ordered them to dismiss corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Many of the negotiations between the new administrations in Mexico and the United states have included doing more on the US side of the border to stem the so-called iron river and target straw purchasers and weapons smugglers
With recent designations of the primary Mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), many of the justifications for designating the groups as terrorist organizations instead of organized crime groups (TCOs) cited the violence and warfare type arms being used in Mexico.
Source: https://www.borderlandbeat.com/2025/03/doj-looks-to-possibly-merge-dea-and-atf.html
