Washington: The U.S. Justice Department has announced a far-reaching reorganization that will dismantle one of its most prominent task forces against international drug cartels, alongside several other long-standing divisions, according to internal documents obtained by Reuters. The decision, described as the most significant structural shake-up in nearly two decades, has sparked concern among lawmakers, former officials, and legal advocates over its timing and consequences.
At the center of the restructuring is the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), a prosecutorial initiative that for decades coordinated federal agencies in dismantling large narcotics networks. The task force played a pivotal role in high-level investigations into Mexican cartels such as the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Its sudden closure is seen as a sharp departure from the Justice Department’s previous strategy of using multi-agency cooperation to cripple organized crime.
Officials familiar with the restructuring acknowledged that around 275 positions will be cut, while roughly 140 staff members face involuntary transfers or termination. Critics argue that the elimination of OCDETF may create operational gaps in the fight against drug trafficking at a time when synthetic opioids like fentanyl continue to devastate U.S. communities.
The overhaul also shutters two historically significant offices. The Community Relations Service, founded during the Civil Rights era to mediate racial and ethnic tensions, will close after nearly 60 years of operation. Similarly, the Office for Access to Justice, created to promote equitable access to legal aid, is being dismantled.
In addition, the Tax Division will be absorbed into the Justice Department’s Criminal and Civil divisions, while the office that liaises with INTERPOL will be folded into the U.S. Marshals Service. Internal estimates place the cost of the restructuring at a minimum of $3.1 million.
The announcement has already drawn scrutiny from Capitol Hill. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who sits on the appropriations committee that funds the Justice Department, condemned the changes in a letter dated late September. He accused the administration of bypassing Congress and warned that such unilateral restructuring is “not normal practice.”
Legal experts and former officials echoed these concerns. Stacey Young, a former DOJ attorney who now leads a legal advocacy group, described the closures as a “decimation” of essential justice functions. She warned that dismantling long-standing offices without a transparent replacement strategy would weaken the department’s credibility and limit its reach in critical areas like cartel prosecutions and civil rights mediation.
Notably absent from the reorganization is the previously floated plan to merge the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). That proposal, leaked earlier this year, faced immediate backlash from both agencies, as well as bipartisan resistance in Congress. While the current documents do not revive the merger, officials did not rule out reconsidering it in the future.
The Justice Department framed the restructuring as a bid to streamline governance and eliminate redundancies. But observers see it as part of a broader Trump administration agenda to centralize power within fewer, larger divisions while scaling back offices perceived as less aligned with its law-and-order priorities.
The closure of the cartel task force, in particular, has raised eyebrows given the administration’s vocal emphasis on drug trafficking as a national security threat. Current and former DOJ officials have noted the contradiction, pointing out that cartel prosecutions were often showcased as a central pillar of federal law enforcement.
With several hundred staff members facing displacement and long-standing institutions being dismantled, the impact of the reorganization will take months if not years to fully unfold. For now, the move underscores a dramatic reshaping of how the U.S. government intends to confront organized crime, civil rights disputes, and public access to justice.