Trump Administration Proposes Merging ATF into DEA

Since President Donald Trump took office, there’s been talk of merging the ATF in with the FBI. On some level, a lot of us like the idea. With a merger of that type, the ATF wouldn’t be so desperate to make gun arrests to justify their budget, and maybe leave folks alone. 

Yet no merger is really a great idea until and unless some gun regulations are repealed.

Apparently, the Trump administration has completely different ideas on the matter, as revealed by Gun Owners of America on X Friday night.

🚨BREAKING🚨

The White House just officially proposed merging ATF & DEA. Just imagine:

👎3x ATF budget
👎4x ATF tactical units
👎+10,000 new employees
👎reduced oversight & accountability

Merging is NOT abolishing, it’s a DANGEROUS Trojan Horse. pic.twitter.com/yBYr2FooA5

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) May 30, 2025

In truth, even abolishing the ATF wouldn’t do much without some serious legislative reforms to address some of the problems already in place. Someone was going to take over those duties, even if they were agents who had never been involved with ATF-like enforcement and regulatory efforts before.

Now, the logic of merging it within the DEA–using the two agencies as one to combat the cartels–has some merit. The two big issues with the Mexican cartels are their drug-running efforts, obviously, but also their gun trafficking. I get the thinking here entirely.

But there are so many other problems.

The DEA has a long history itself of overstepping civil liberties in the name of the War on Drugs. They’re used to swooping in and taking people’s stuff, even when there’s insufficient evidence for an arrest, via civil asset forfeiture, and that’s really just the tip of the iceberg.

The agency has been known to not do a great job keeping tabs on undercover operations and offering slaps on the wrist when agents have been accused of misconduct.

Of course, it’s not like the FBI doesn’t have its own scandals, but the truth is that the proposed merger with the DEA isn’t going to do a whole lot to make anyone feel any better.

The only upside is that, like the FBI, the DEA has enough other things in its wheelhouse that it can hang its cap on that they’re less likely to try to manufacture crimes to justify their existence.

But let’s also be real here, “less likely” isn’t “unlikely” by any stretch of the imagination.

Plus, again, the laws are the same. Without a significant change in that, we’re just going to run into the same problem with the DEA that we have with the ATF. 

For one thing, no law enforcement agency should also be a regulatory agency. What I mean is that whoever gives the yay or nay on whether something is legal or not, such as a new bit of gun technology that seeks to push the edge of what’s legal, shouldn’t also be the people who will arrest folks for breaking those regulations.

And, honestly, there are way too many federal laws in the first place regarding guns. We need those repealed or overturned by the courts.

We don’t need another law enforcement agency committing the oldest sins in the newest ways.