The Drug Enforcement Administration may soon gobble up the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives if the White House’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget goes through.
Nestled on page 618 of the Supplement Appendix is a paragraph dedicated to merging the two entities into one.
“To most successfully, effectively, and efficiently continue the fight to eradicate the designated cartel FTOs [Foreign Terrorist Organizations] and seek to eliminate violent crime, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) into will be incorporated into DEA, addressing both drug and gun crimes. This transition will be initiated in FY 2026 and achieve efficiencies in resources and case deconfliction,” the section reads.
In layman’s terms, this portion of the bill says the ATF would be housed under the DEA’s banner. Though this would consolidate these two law enforcement agencies — who frequently overlap when it comes to federal gun charges and drug trafficking — Second Amendment activists say the move would be detrimental to gun owners.
“Merging is NOT abolishing, it’s a DANGEROUS Trojan Horse,” Gun Owners of America posted to social media after the merger was discovered in the 1,224-page budget.
The DEA has frequently come under fire for government overreach and has notoriously suffered a less-than-stellar public image.
The merger was first floated in March, taking officials in both agencies by surprise, sources said. The addition into the Fiscal Budget, though, is the first serious step in implementation. Sources told Reuters that a meeting with DEA and ATF officials confirmed that the merger could come as soon as October 2025.
Sources say a merger this size would mark the biggest upheaval to the Justice Department since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
What do you think of the DEA/ATF merger? Is it good or bad? Sound off in the comments below. To stay up to date on all that’s happening, check out our News section.
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Until you're wrongfully labeled and targeted...something people aren't paying attention to is the addiction industry. They're pushing "use disorders", including alcohol and caffeine. All it takes is a nurse asking you if you drink, or it being marked in your electronic medical record at some point, to trigger a red flag. It's already being done with prescription drug monitoring programs. There's been a 20yr (socialist)agenda going on in the background and most people don't realize it. All of this is to get everything linked for mass surveillance w Palantir and Oracle. Don't be fooled. GOA and others are right, the Trojan horse is being rolled out. Neither agency is Constitutional. DEA has little to no accountability. They've wrongfully targeted medical professionals by tapping in to patient records without probable cause. More people are dying because of the overreach. Veterans were the first targets. VA Directive 1108.08, 1112 has led to an increase in veteran suicides, yet it continues.
Be careful what you wish for.
It would be AWESOME if the ATF were to be merged into the DEA. The amount of internal and external resources that would be made available to implement gun control policies, regulations, and to support legislation would grow exponentially. It’s just a matter of LINKING gun control to all the GUN and DRUG CRIME and making it one giant PUBLIC SAFETY issue. As a gun owner, I totally support this.
Replying to Mario Llop:
Guns and drugs do not go hand in hand. The US Constitution specifically protects the right to own and carry guns, but it says nothing about drugs.
When you say "guns and drugs go hand in hand", you are implying that guns are bad.
I'm not worried about potential overreach, but rather ACTUAL overreach; overreach by the ATF has been going on for a while, and it got a lot worse during the Biden administration. We don't need a government bureau specifically for policing a Constitutionally-protected activity; the police can handle any cases where people violate gun laws.
I have many guns and I never implied guns are bad at all. But, after 20 years (almost) in law enforcement I can absolutely tell you drugs and guns go hand in hand. To the point Marijuana traffickers (a ridiculous term at this point since it is hardly enforced) roll out weaponry just as heavy as some of the street level fentanyl dealers.
Guns are not bad. They aren't even evil. They are tools. People are bad and effectively, make guns bad because it is a projection of their behavior. Guns are a tool of the drug trade. Thus the proposed ATF and DEA merger not only makes great sense from enforcement effectiveness, I think it also mitigates the issues of overreach that you cite because the emphasis is always going to be on the millions of pounds of drugs in circulation.
I do not think it is fair to hyperlink articles of DEA federal overreach. Especially ones that are factually inaccurate. During the Floyd protests, several government agencies, to include DEA, were provided special deputization for a limited period of time to support enforcement activity otherwise not granted congressionally to their agencies. This was removed after it no longer became necessary to force multiply for FBI and HSI.
Has DEA and other federal agencies suffered in recent years from bad actors? Absolutely- the Irizarry scandal was terrible and he and others will enjoy prison sentences for their crimes. DEA is far from perfect but also no more immune to the folly of human nature than any other law enforcement entity.
As to the merger, this is a long needed correction. Guns and drugs go hand in hand. Period. The investigative overlaps and operational reality would suggest that this merger should have happened decades ago. To become worried of potential threats to overreach on lawful gun owners is in effect fear mongering.
We often link to articles outside our own for our readers to understand the context of our reporting. It enables them to see where we got the information and also to read further if they chose. We often link to articles on both sides of the political spectrum to ensure fairness and transparency in our reporting.
If we must have a DEA then it should logically include alcohol and tobacco.
Unfortunately, as long as there are laws regulating firearms, then one agency or another will have the legal duty to enforce those laws. "Abolish the ATF" means nothing until the NFA and it's family are repealed.
Strengthening the reach of the DEA is not a bad thing. The gun/ drug relationship is rampant and a dangerous combination. It’s back to the basics of controlling the criminal not the legal gun owner.
Why not just abolish the ATF? Or take the ‘F’ out of ATF.
There should not be a bureau for regulating a Constitutionally-protected activity.