Chairman Comer Investigates Biden Administration’s DEA for Allowing Fentanyl to Hit U.S. Streets

WASHINGTON-House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today announced an investigation into actions taken by the Biden Administration's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that allowed fentanyl to hit U.S. streets in New Mexico while the agency watched and took no action. The Biden Administration reversed Trump Administration protocols designed to protect public safety, which resulted in more fentanyl related deaths in New Mexico. In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, Chairman Comer seeks documents and communications related to this fentanyl scandal perpetrated by the Biden Administration.

"The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating the Biden Administration's relaxation of fentanyl risk mitigation protocols that allegedly disallowed interdictions by law enforcement and permitted deadly street drugs to flow into U.S. communities. The first Trump Administration developed risk mitigation protocols that addressed fentanyl's unique public safety threat by requiring agents to make reasonable efforts to prevent the distribution of this lethal drug. The Biden Administration disregarded these protocols and instead allowed shipments to remain in the custody and control of criminals. The Committee requests documents and information to better understand the actions of the Biden Administration that expanded the public safety threat from fentanyl," wrote Chairman Comer.

In November 2019, the Trump Administration's Department of Justice (DOJ) issued Risk Mitigation protocols that prioritized addressing the lethality of fentanyl to ensure it did not have an opportunity to harm the public. In early 2023, the Biden Administration's DEA disregarded these previously established protocols in New Mexico. The DEA instead allowed shipments of up to 100,000 pills to remain in the hands of criminals resulting in "walking fentanyl," where the pills were not intercepted and allowed to continue to move through criminal networks. DEA agents monitored shipments of pills but did not seize them, allowing hundreds of thousands of pills to hit the streets of New Mexico between 2023 and 2025. As a result, New Mexico was heavily effected by fentanyl with a nearly 21 percent increase in fentanyl poisoning deaths compared to a 14 percent decrease in the United States overall.

"The current Trump Administration has prioritized addressing this threat, however it is important to understand the full impact of the choices that were made by the prior administration to disregard a policy that prioritized public safety. While DEA agents may not have the resources to intercept every single known shipment, a policy directing them not to intercept significant shipments is unconscionable and undoubtedly resulted in considerable harm and lives lost," continued Chairman Comer.

Read the letter to Attorney General Blanche here.