'Zeroed out': Trump plans to shut down critical crime unit — and no one knows why
By Matthew Chapman,
15 days ago
President Donald Trump's administration is moving to shut down a critical Department of Justice unit fighting organized crime and drug trafficking that dates all the way back to the Reagan administration, Bloomberg News reported — and there doesn't seem to be any clear reason why.
The leaders of this unit, known as the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), received notice that all operations must wind down by September 30, and "An email sent last Monday by a DOJ budget analyst to a counterpart at OCDETF said that the unit’s fiscal year 2026 budget would be 'zeroed out' and the independent office dissolved, according to records obtained by Bloomberg News in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and the people familiar with the matter."
All office leases and other operations will be canceled as well.
Want more breaking political news? Click for the latest headlines at Raw Story.
There was no reason given to leaders of the unit for the shutdown, and the cancelation of OCDETF's budget was not actually included in the Office of Management and Budget's proposal to Congress, which itself has come under fire from key GOP lawmakers for the depth and breadth of cuts and eliminations to core federal programs.
ALSO READ: ‘Pain. Grief. Anger’: Families heartbroken as Trump backlash smashes adoption dreams
OCDETF, established in 1982, has been critically important to U.S. efforts to disrupt and shut down transnational criminal organizations, noted the report: "The task forces played a role in the 2019 capture of Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman. The program’s crown jewel is its sprawling fusion center located in Virginia. The multimillion dollar classified facility houses reams of intelligence and financial data that investigators and prosecutors use to build mosaics on individuals and criminal networks they’ve targeted."
What makes the move particularly strange is that as recently as two months ago, key appointees in Trump's Justice Department highlighted OCDETF as an essential part of their law enforcement policies, with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying in a March memo to the whole DOJ, “Operation Take Back America requires that OCDETF surge existing resources to address the Justice Department's core enforcement priorities: stopping illegal immigration, eliminating Cartels and TCOs, and ending illegal trafficking of dangerous drugs and human beings.”
According to the report, federal prosecutors were blindsided by the move, as "there are thousands of active investigations, and it is unclear whether those probes will be shut down or handed over to other agencies."
Comments / 194
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
RANGE
A 12-year-old killed herself at a Spokane hospital that recently closed its youth psychiatric unit
This story was originally published by InvestigateWest , a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to change-making investigative journalism. Sign up for their Watchdog Weekly newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Reach Whitney Bryen at 208-918-2458 or whitney@investigatewest.org. Reach Kaylee Tornay at 503-877-4108 or kaylee@investigatewest.org.
Golden Gate Media
Social Security Payments to Arrive Later in May: Here's the Reason Behind Delay
Sacramento residents and Social Security recipients nationwide can expect changes to their payments this May. Nearly 74 million Americans will receive benefits electronically, with payment dates based on birth dates. For those born between the 1st and 10th, payments will arrive on May 14. Beneficiaries born from the 11th to 20th will see payments on May 21, while those born after the 20th will be paid on May 28.
Comments /