Inside the Luzerne County Courthouse, the nation’s attorney general and other mostly Republican federal, state and local prosecutors praised President Donald Trump’s actions for cutting fentanyl deaths.
Outside, protesters blamed Republicans for the nation’s drug crisis.
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick hosted a private roundtable on fentanyl Monday with U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and other state and local prosecutors, then hosted a news conference afterward.
“Because of the president's efforts to secure the border, the incredibly focused efforts on going after the cartels, because of legislation that's been put in place - I've been proud to co-sponsor the Laken Riley and the HALT Fentanyl Act and a number of other pieces of legislation - there's been enormous progress,” McCormick said during the news conference.
Fatal fentanyl overdoses began dropping in 2023 during President Joe Biden’s administration and have continued to drop, the health policy research nonprofit KFF found. National Public Radio reported drug overdose deaths in Pennsylvania peaked in 2021 and came down almost a third by fall of 2024.
Drug deaths drop overall
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found drug overdose deaths down more than 12% nationally and almost 20% in Pennsylvania based on data from May 2025 to May 2026.
“Since President Trump took office, lethal doses of fentanyl have decreased by 59 percentage points, and that's in no large part because we shut down the border,” Blanche said. “We take this fight seriously because we have a president who knows that there are real people who are affected by these crimes.”
U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Luzerne, said he’s made reducing drug deaths a priority as a congressman.
“We secured over $1 million for the Monroe County DA's opioid crimes section, which will reduce drug use, combat drug-related crime and lower drug-related deaths right here in northeastern Pennsylvania. I voted for the Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act to hold foreign entities and officials involved in China's opioid industry accountable when they failed to act against opioid trafficking,” he said.
Bresnahan also highlighted his support of the HALT Fentanyl Act that reclassified fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I narcotics and legislation he co-sponsored to support alternative treatment options to potentially addicted drugs.
“We need strong law enforcement, but we also need to make sure that people who are struggling can get the help before it's too late. I'm grateful to the administration's efforts to strengthen our borders and stop the flow of fentanyl into our country. When federal, state, local, county officials come together, we should see better results: fewer overdose deaths, more traffickers prosecuted, and less fentanyl reaching our streets,” Bresnahan said.
Law enforcement efforts
Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terrance Cole emphasized the importance of cooperation with state and local partners.
“This is a top-down approach about America first, about Americans first, and we will continue to lead the way. Whether you are in Colombia, whether you are in Mexico, Central America, the DEA will hunt you down. We are here to protect our citizens under the rule of law that has been established by our Constitution, and we make no bones about it,” Cole said.
Cole said DEA has seized about 180 kilograms of fentanyl, about 400 kilograms of methamphetamines and about 1,000 kilograms of cocaine in Pennsylvania.
He urged Pennsylvanians to participate in DEA’s National Take Back Day this weekend, which allows anyone to drop off prescription medications for disposal according to federal guidelines.
State Attorney General Dave Sunday said his office seized about 56 million "potentially lethal doses of fentanyl” across the state with an estimated street value of more than $58 million.
“To put that into perspective, 56 million doses-that's the equivalent of enough doses to impact the population of Luzerne County 170 times over,” Sunday said.
Blanche’s visit met with protest
On the West North Street side of the courthouse, fewer than 10 protesters gathered. They identified themselves as members of a healthcare union and supporters of Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat who’s challenging for Bresnahan’s seat.
They chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, Bresnahan has got to go” and held signs that read “Fight corruption!” and "Release the files!” in reference to the Epstein files, a case that Blanche oversaw.
“I believe the drug crisis we have in this country reflects back to inaccessible health care for all Americans. Everyone should have the access to affordable health care and attainable health care. As long as we have people like Bresnahan in office, we're not going to have any of that in Pennsylvania,” protester Dorsey Lane-Rebillard said.
In a statement Monday, Cognetti said public safety has been a priority during her time as Scranton's mayor that she'd take with her to Congress.
“As a mom and a mayor, keeping our families safe is personal to me. I’ve seen the heartbreak fentanyl has caused across Northeastern Pennsylvania. That’s why in Scranton, we’ve invested millions in our police department to help officers fight drug trafficking and keep dangerous drugs off our streets. I’ll work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, who’s serious about stopping fentanyl and putting traffickers behind bars," she said.
McCormick said the fight against fentanyl deaths transcends party lines.
“I vowed on the campaign trail, and President Trump certainly vowed on the campaign trail, that we would secure the borders and bring this madness to a halt, and not a single one of those fentanyl families ever talked about whether they were Republicans or Democrats,” McCormick said. “They didn't talk about whether the actions we needed to take would be Republican actions or Democratic actions. This was a national scourge and a scourge for Pennsylvania that demanded action.”
