US Justice Department considers merging DEA, ATF in major shakeup, memo says

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -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.

A DOJ official said the memo represents a preliminary proposal that is being circulated to solicit feedback from various department leaders.

Some of the recommendations, such as the DEA-ATF merger, would require congressional approval, the official added.

The memo does not specify how many jobs could be affected by the changes. The department employed about 115,000 people as of January.

The campaign by Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk to shrink the federal government has so far targeted more than 100,000 jobs across all federal agencies.

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.

The memo calls for reassigning some public corruption attorneys to work out of U.S. Attorneys' offices across the nation, "while maintaining a core team of supervisory attorneys" to remain in the section.

STAFFING CUTS CONSIDERED

The department is considering cuts to staffing in various sections of the Criminal Division and National Security Division, including those that handle Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases as well as counterintelligence and export control matters.

Attorney General Pam Bondi previously announced she planned to reduce resources in these areas, and Trump separately ordered the Justice Department to pause enforcement of foreign bribery laws in an executive order in February.

Other changes proposed in the memo include merging all the Justice Department's grant offices into one and eliminating the Community Relations Service. That office works to de-escalate tensions in various local communities.

The memo also proposes moving some attorneys from the Tax Division to U.S. Attorneys' offices, moving the Civil Division's Consumer Protection Branch into the Criminal Division, transferring certain cyber resources to the National Security Division and consolidating various policy offices.

The potential merger of the ATF and DEA would represent one of the biggest shakeups of the Justice Department's law enforcement components since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

FBI Director Kash Patel is also serving as the ATF's acting director, in an unusual dual role.

Trump has nominated Terry Cole, a longtime law enforcement veteran, to lead the DEA, though he has not yet named a permanent head of the ATF.

The ATF's role in enforcing gun laws has exposed it to more political pressure from conservatives than other arms of U.S. law enforcement. Gun rights groups have long sought to limit its legal authority to regulate the firearms industry.

The Senate has only managed to muster enough votes to confirm an ATF director in two instances since 2006, when the role became subject to Senate confirmation.

The proposal to merge the ATF and DEA drew a sharp rebuke from multiple advocacy organizations.

“Gutting DOJ and merging ATF and DEA weakens law enforcement’s ability to combat gun violence, the fentanyl epidemic, and generally keep American communities secure and healthy," said Stacey Young, founder and executive director of Justice Connection, a new organization that advocates for Justice Department employees.

The group on Wednesday launched a TV ad campaign criticizing the Trump administration's changes to the Justice Department.

Giffords, a gun violence prevention advocacy group, also warned against the merger.

"Cutting resources from ATF would be literally defunding the police," the group's executive director Emma Brown said in a statement.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Rod Nickel)