GAO urges DOJ, DHS to clarify DEA-ICE collaboration requirements

The Government Accountability Office reports that a May 2026 memorandum from the Acting Attorney General and a January 2025 Office of Legal Counsel opinion have created uncertainty about the status of requirements in the June 2009 interagency cooperation agreement and the January 2021 joint letter between the Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations.

Those agreements require cross-designation of HSI special agents for Controlled Substances Act investigations, deconfliction of case information, joint training, and a Headquarters Review Team. GAO found that DEA and ICE have fully addressed four of eight leading collaboration practices - defining common outcomes and clarifying roles - but have not fully implemented accountability, sustained leadership, cultural bridging, or agreement updates. The Headquarters Review Team has never been fully sustained, and joint training remains incomplete.

As of June 2026, DOJ officials told GAO they were still determining how the May 2026 memorandum will impact the existing requirements, including the Review Team and joint training. GAO recommends that the Attorney General collaborate with the Secretary of Homeland Security to clarify the status of those requirements and to update or replace the 2009 agreement and 2021 joint letter to reflect the current operating environment.

The report issues five recommendations. The Department of Justice has marked all five as open and agreed with them; the Department of Homeland Security has marked them as open and disagreed. GAO maintains the recommendations are valid.

Clarifying the requirements would give DEA and ICE definitive direction for effective counternarcotics investigations, according to GAO.