U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas, following a meeting with former President Donald Trump on January 12, said that Trump is "ready to lead" in the fight against drug cartels. Crenshaw emphasized the urgency of taking action, citing the new administrations in both the United States and Mexico. He shared these remarks in a post on social media platform X on January 13.

According to a Fox News op-ed by Crenshaw, "the timing is right" for action against cartels due to the changes in leadership in both countries. He said, "If Congress is serious about aligning with President Trump’s promise to fight the cartels, we need significantly more congressional firepower." Crenshaw highlighted that fentanyl brought into the U.S. by cartels results in approximately 80,000 deaths annually.

In his op-ed, Crenshaw proposed establishing a Select Committee to Defeat the Mexican Drug Cartels. This committee would be modeled after the Committee on China and would function as one jurisdiction to streamline the legislative process and expedite bills to the floor. "Ignoring the Mexican cartels is not an option," he said.

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The 2024 Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) National Drug Threat Assessment identifies fentanyl as the deadliest drug in American history. The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels have been instrumental in its distribution across all 50 U.S. states by producing it in Mexico and smuggling it into the United States for profit.

Crenshaw is a former Navy SEAL and currently serves as a U.S. Congressman from Texas, according to his website.