WASHINGTON — Attorney General Pam Bondi emphasized that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ operations at Redstone Arsenal would not be touched in light of a proposal to merge the agency with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Bondi made the comments in an appearance in front of a House Appropriations subcommittee Monday in her first congressional appearance since she was sworn into office. U.S. Rep. Dale Strong, R-Huntsville, asked Bondi how merging ATF and DEA would ensure “critical and unique capabilities are maintained.” The ATF enforces federal firearms laws while the DEA oversees controlled substance regulations.
Redstone Arsenal is home to the ATF’s National Center for Explosives Training and Research, which contains the bureau’s core explosives and fire programs.
“The center provides remarkable training facilities and specializes in life-saving explosives and arson training,” Strong said.
The Department of Justice has proposed combining the two agencies as part of a restructuring effort, but Bondi said the ATF’s operations in Huntsville would not be impacted by the proposed merger.
“There are no cuts planned for that, and that’s where ATF and DEA, again, can partner together,” Bondi said. “The drugs and the guns go together. Those agents will be working hand in hand. The bureaucracy at the top will be gone.”
Bondi said she wants to visit ATF’s facility at Redstone, calling the work done there “remarkable.”
During the hearing, Democrat Rep. Rose DeLauro of Connecticut sparred with Bondi over the proposed ATF and DEA merger and argued against the planned budget cuts for the two agencies in the DOJ’s fiscal year 2026 budget request. The ATF budget would be reduced by $468 million and “consolidated within DEA,” according to the budget request. The DEA budget would be cut by $112 million.
“So you’re going to merge the two agencies together and then you’re going to shortchange their resources so neither one of them will be able to do the job they have been designed to do,” DeLauro said.
Bondi defended the merger to have ATF and DEA agents working in conjunction because “guns and drugs go together.”
The attorney general also reiterated her support for the FBI’s plans to relocate 500 workers to Huntsville by the end of the year.
“It will enhance everything we do, training for FBI, training for other employees, and Huntsville provides the most cost-effective location with distinct partnership opportunities, and we support all of that that’s happening, and I look forward to visiting it one day,” Bondi told Strong.
Bondi will next appear in front of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday.