GOP lawmakers block White House DOJ move; ATF stays apart from DEA

Congressional Republicans are drawing a line against the Trump administration’s push to restructure DOJ. While the Trump administration has sought to fold the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) into the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), move antidrug programs under DOJ control, and absorb the Office on Violence Against Women into a broader bureaucracy, both House and Senate appropriators have quietly, but firmly, rejected these proposals in draft fiscal 2026 funding bills, reports Roll Call.

Among the most contentious suggestions is the ATF–DEA merger. Critics from both sides of the firearms debate, as well as law enforcement leaders, have raised alarms, noting that such a move could either weaken gun law enforcement or enable future administrations to target gun owners with greater force. Recent appropriations language, included in both chambers' bills, prohibits funding for any merger of ATF functions into other agencies—a direct rebuff to the administration’s request for flexibility in reorganization.

The Office on Violence Against Women also gets a reprieve. Congress denied efforts to subsume the office within the Office of Justice Programs, maintaining its visibility and independence—a move victims' advocates argue is critical for grant program effectiveness and public accountability.

Another White House proposal—to relocate the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program from the Office of National Drug Control Policy to DOJ—was similarly rejected. The program, which coordinates resources to dismantle violent drug trafficking networks, retains its current structure amid support from law enforcement.