Bondi Puts DEA Chief in Charge of D.C. Police: Local Opposition Grows

WASHINGTON — In a striking decree, Attorney General Pam Bondi has handed control of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to Drug Enforcement Administration chief Terry Cole. Announced on Fox News Thursday, the order requires Cole to approve all decisions made by D.C.’s Police Chief Pamela Smith going forward.

The move comes just days after President Donald Trump launched a 30-day federal crackdown on crime in the capital, deploying the National Guard as part of the operation.

“Effective immediately, Terrence C. Cole shall serve as MPD’s emergency commissioner under the state of emergency declared by the President,” reads the decree from the Department of Justice. The order places D.C.’s police leadership under direct federal command.

Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb were quick to push back. In a written statement, Schwalb said Bondi’s decree was “illegal, and you [Smith] are not legally obligated to follow it.”

The timing of the order coincides with a decision by Chief Pamela Smith to allow officers to share information about undocumented immigrants with ICE during traffic stops—a move President Trump called a “good step.”

Bondi justified her decision citing what she called “sanctuary policies” in D.C., stating: “They’re trying to protect criminal aliens. And if we keep going in that direction, criminals will flock to D.C.—and we’re not allowing that.”

However, Mayor Bowser emphasized that Police Chief Smith remains “operationally in charge” in cooperation with federal authorities. Nevertheless, with this decree, DEA chief Terry Cole can now block or redirect Smith’s decisions.

The appointment has already sparked a political standoff in the capital, as the legal basis for Bondi’s order may now be challenged in court. Experts warn it could set a dangerous precedent for federal intervention in local policing in other major U.S. cities.

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