In a move to intensify efforts against transnational criminal organizations, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) Chairman Rick Crawford (R-AR) and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced the formation of a new Cartel Task Force within HPSCI. The task force will be led by Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), who has spearheaded similar efforts over the past two years.
The task force is being established in response to concerns raised in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s (ODNI) 2025 Annual Threat Assessment, which identified cartel activity as a significant national security threat. The task force will focus on combating narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, illegal arms trading, and other illicit operations linked to cartels in the Western Hemisphere.
“After decades of ineffective or incomplete responses, the cartels and other transnational criminal organizations have become emboldened by the gray space in which they were permitted to operate,” said Chairman Crawford. “The threat cartel organizations pose is a national security nightmare.”
Speaker Johnson framed the task force as part of a broader Republican effort to support former President Donald Trump’s immigration and border security agenda.
“President Biden handed operational control of our southern border to Mexican drug cartels and left Americans with the worst border catastrophe in our nation’s history,” Johnson said. “President Trump’s swift work to end the lawlessness and reestablish control has proven that strong leadership matters.”
Speaker Johnson continued by emphasizing Congress’s role in enabling future action.
“It is the responsibility of Congress to ensure this good work can continue by providing the President with the tools he needs to dismantle the drug cartels for good.”
Rep. Crenshaw expressed readiness to lead the initiative. “I’m honored to be entrusted by Speaker Johnson and Chairman Crawford to lead this critical effort to defeat the Mexican cartels,” he said. “For the past two years, my Cartel Task Force has conducted in-depth research on what it will take to eliminate this grave threat to our country.”
The task force aims to collaborate with the U.S. Senate and the Trump administration to develop legislative measures.
“The HPSCI Cartel Task Force will work with our Senate colleagues and the Trump administration to support President Trump in his already impactful efforts to combat the cartel threat and secure our homeland,” Crawford added.
The formation of the task force marks a significant step in House Republicans’ border security strategy ahead of the 2024 election season.
