President Donald J. Trump took decisive action on July 16, 2025, signing the HALT Fentanyl Act into law — a commonsense, enforcement-first response to the poison that has been killing our young and destroying families across the country. Texas Senator John Cornyn rightly praised the move, calling it an essential tool to stop the flow of illicit fentanyl and to give law enforcement the backbone they need to go after traffickers.
The HALT law permanently classifies fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I narcotics, closing the loopholes that clever chemists and cartels have used to skirt prosecution while still protecting legitimate medical access to FDA-approved fentanyl. That permanence matters — it turns temporary fixes into durable policy and arms prosecutors with clarity and teeth to put poison peddlers behind bars.
Senator Cornyn, who hears from grieving Texas families every week, emphasized that this legislation answers real human suffering and was long overdue after years of federal drift and indifference. Conservatives should applaud leaders who put victims first and act rather than posture; Cornyn’s praise of the signing is the sort of principled, results-oriented response Americans voted for.
This signing did not happen in a vacuum — the Administration has also used executive authority to treat the synthetic-opioid supply chain as a national-security threat, imposing duties and other measures aimed at choking off precursors and hitting foreign actors that enable cartel operations. That tough posture on the international stage complements domestic law enforcement and shows the kind of whole-of-government strategy conservatives have demanded.
Make no mistake: Democrats and open-border radicals who treated fentanyl like a political talking point instead of an emergency bear responsibility for the carnage we’ve seen. Now is the time for Republicans to keep fighting for border security, to push for more resources for interdiction, and to pressure foreign governments that turn a blind eye to precursor shipments. The HALT Act is a weapon — Congress and the Administration must use it aggressively.
Americans who have lost children, siblings, and neighbors to this scourge deserve action, not lectures. Senator Cornyn’s praise of this bill signing is the voice of common-sense Texans and hardworking Americans who want law and order restored in their communities, and President Trump delivered a necessary, forceful step toward stopping the poison. Now it’s time to follow through — enforce the law, secure the border, and hold the cartels and their enablers accountable.
