Nearly two dozen lawmakers serving on the House oversight committee say it’s time for leadership change at the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The current DEA administrator, Michele Leonhart, infuriated committee members Tuesday with her testimony about agents who repeatedly attended sex parties with prostitutes that were funded by drug cartel members.

None of the misbehaving agents were fired. Seven of them were punished with suspensions of between one and 10 days. The Department of Justice’s inspector general reported on the wild overseas escapades last month.

Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said after the hearing that Leonhart should resign or be fired.



In a remarkably bipartisan Wednesday afternoon declaration, Chaffetz, Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and 20 other members said they have no confidence in Leonhart.

Republicans Justin Amash of Michigan, Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina signed on alongside Democrats Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia, Gerry Connolly of Virginia and Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts.

“After over a decade of serving in top leadership positions at DEA, Administrator Leonhart has been woefully unable to change or positively influence the pervasive ‘good old boy’ culture that exists throughout the agency,” the committee members said.

“From her testimony, it is clear that she lacks the authority and will to make the tough decisions required to hold those accountable who compromise national security and bring disgrace to their position,” they said. “Ms. Leonhart has lost the confidence of this Committee to initiate the necessary reforms to restore the reputation of a vital agency.”



A DEA spokesman said the agency needed to digest the development before offering comment.

Leonhart was appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2010. She had been acting administrator of the DEA since 2007.

Until now, Leonhart's most vocal critics had been drug reform advocates, who she memorably infuriated at a 2012 congressional hearing by declining to say if marijuana is less harmful than crack cocaine or heroin.

Last year, supporters of more liberal pot laws urged Obama to fire her for insubordination after she criticized him for saying smoking pot is less harmful than drinking alcohol. In a speech to sheriffs she fumed about White House staff playing softball games against a team of pot reform advocates and said the lowest day in her career was when a hemp flag fluttered above the U.S. Capitol on July 4, 2013.



Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., told U.S. News last year he found Leonhart “completely incompetent and unknowledgeable" and Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., urged her to "assume a Japanese posture and resign” so Obama could appoint someone more in line with his priorities. A petition from the Marijuana Policy Project urging her ouster attracted more than 45,000 signatures.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Leonhart’s future.

In addition to @JasonintheHouse and @RepCummings, these House oversight cmtee members want DEA's Leonhart to go pic.twitter.com/Y77zusXkLp — Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) April 15, 2015



