U.S. Senate confirms President Trump’s DEA pick

The U.S. Senate gave the final go-ahead on Tuesday to confirm Terrance Cole, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

In early February, Trump nominated Cole as the next DEA administrator, less than a month after naming Derek Maltz, a former counternarcotics agent, as the agency’s acting administrator.

Following a procedural vote on Monday to advance consideration of the nomination, the Senate in a 50-47 confirmation vote approved Cole, a DEA veteran with a tenure of over two decades at the agency, cannabis publication Marijuana Moment reported.

He is expected to lead an agency currently facing an impasse over the Biden administration’s proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, which would essentially classify it along with prescription drugs such as ketamine under the Controlled Substances Act.

In January, DEA Administrative Law Judge John Mulrooney paused the process after a legal challenge filed by several pro-rescheduling parties. During a confirmation hearing in April, Cole pledged to prioritize the rescheduling review under his leadership.