| Post: | Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration |
| Incumbent: | Anne Milgram |
| Incumbentsince: | Jun 28, 2021 |
| Department: | Drug Enforcement Administration |
| Reports To: | United States Attorney General |
| Appointer: | President of the United States with Senate advice and consent |
| Termlength: | No fixed term |
| Inaugural: | John R. Bartels Jr. |
The Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration is the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, a United States federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the United States. The current administrator is Anne Milgram.
The administrator is appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The administrator reports to the Attorney General through the Deputy Attorney General.[1] The administrator is assisted by a deputy administrator, the chief of operations, the chief inspector, and three assistant administrators (for the Operations Support, Intelligence, and Human Resources divisions). Other senior staff include the chief financial officer and the chief counsel. The administrator and deputy administrator are the only presidentially appointed personnel in the DEA; all other DEA officials are career government employees.
Unnumbered rows denote acting commissioners.
| Image | Name (birth–death) | Term of office | Appointed by (term) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start of term | End of term | ||||
| 1 | John R. Bartels Jr. | Oct 4, 1973 | May 1975 | Richard Nixon | |
| – | Henry S. Dogin | May 1975 | Jan 23, 1976 | Gerald Ford | |
| – | Peter B. Bensinger | Jan 23, 1976 | Feb 23, 1976 | Gerald Ford | |
| 2 | Feb 23, 1976 | Jul 10, 1981 | |||
| – | Francis M. Mullen, Jr. | Jul 10, 1981 | Nov 10, 1983 | Ronald Reagan | |
| 3 | Nov 10, 1983 | Mar 1, 1985 | |||
| – | John C. Lawn | Mar 1, 1985 | Jul 26, 1985 | Ronald Reagan | |
| 4 | Jul, 1985 | Mar 23, 1990 | |||
| – | Terrence M. Burke | Mar 23, 1990 | Aug 13, 1990 | George H. W. Bush | |
| 5 | Robert C. Bonner | Aug 13, 1990 | Oct 31, 1993 | George H. W. Bush | |
| – | Stephen H. Greene | Nov 1, 1993 | Apr 1994 | Bill Clinton | |
| 6 | Thomas A. Constantine | Apr 1994 | Jul 1, 1999 | Bill Clinton | |
| – | Donnie R. Marshall | Jul 2, 1999 | Jun 19, 2000 | Bill Clinton | |
| 7 | Jun 19, 2000 | Jun 20, 2001 | |||
| – | William B. Simpkins | Jul 3, 2001 | Aug 7, 2001 | George W. Bush | |
| 8 | Asa Hutchinson | Aug 8, 2001 | Jan 23, 2003 | George W. Bush | |
| 9 | Karen Tandy | Sep 17, 2003 | Nov 10, 2007 | George W. Bush | |
| – | Michele Leonhart | Nov 10, 2007 | Dec 22, 2010 | George W. Bush | |
| 10 | Dec 22, 2010 | May 14, 2015 | Barack Obama | ||
| – | Chuck Rosenberg | May 18, 2015 | Oct 1, 2017 | Barack Obama | |
| – | Robert W. Patterson | Oct 2, 2017 | Jul 2, 2018 | Donald Trump | |
| – | Uttam Dhillon | Jul 2, 2018 | May 18, 2020 | Donald Trump | |
| – | Timothy Shea | May 19, 2020 | Jan 20, 2021 | Donald Trump | |
| – | D. Christopher Evans | Jan 20, 2021 | June 28, 2021 | Joe Biden | |
| 11 | Anne Milgram | Jun 28, 2021 | Present | Joe Biden | |