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To provide direct hire authority to the Attorney General for purposes of appointing qualified candidates to positions in the Drug Enforcement Administration to work in locations deemed necessary by the Attorney General to support the Administration's mission, and for other purposes.
Summary
The HIRE DEA Act grants the Attorney General direct hire authority to appoint qualified candidates to positions in the Drug Enforcement Administration from fiscal years 2027 through 2034 without following standard federal civil service hiring procedures. The direct hire authority applies to positions including criminal investigators, intelligence analysts, forensic specialists, program managers, and other positions the Attorney General determines necessary based on drug trafficking trends. These appointments can be made in locations deemed necessary by the Attorney General to support the DEA's mission. This streamlined hiring process is intended to allow the DEA to more quickly fill positions to address drug trafficking threats.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Fong, Vince [R-CA-20] (R-CA)
2 cosponsors
- Rep. Kiley, Kevin [R-CA-3] (R-CA)
- Rep. Knott, Brad [R-NC-13] (R-NC)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Vince Fong’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $37,300
- WESTERN NATIONAL GROUP $26,400
- THE WONDERFUL COMPANY $26,400
- SAN JOAQUIN REFINING CO. $19,800
- KERN ENERGY $16,500
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Vince Fong → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Feb 9, 2026 Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. · house
- Feb 9, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 9, 2026
Mr. Fong (for himself, Mr. Knott, and Mr. Kiley of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To provide direct hire authority to the Attorney General for purposes of appointing qualified candidates to positions in the Drug Enforcement Administration to work in locations deemed necessary by the Attorney General to support the Administration’s mission, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Hiring Improvement and Recruitment Empowerment for Drug Enforcement Administration Act” or the “HIRE DEA Act”.
SEC. 2. DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY FOR APPOINTING PERSONNEL TO DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION POSITIONS TO COMBAT DRUG TRAFFICKING ACTIVITIES.
(a) In General.—During each of fiscal years 2027 through 2034, the Attorney General may appoint, without regard to the provisions of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, (other than sections 3303 and 3328 of such chapter), qualified candidates to any covered position in the Drug Enforcement Administration to work in locations deemed necessary to support the Administration’s mission, as determined by the Attorney General.
(b) Covered Position Defined.—In this section, the term “covered position” includes program managers, project managers, criminal investigators/Special Agents in classification series 1811 (or any successor series), intelligence analysts/Intelligence Research Specialists, forensic specialists, community outreach coordinators, and any other position that the Attorney General determines is necessary based on emerging drug trafficking trends or threats. <all>
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