On Friday, Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb initiated a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and members of his administration. The lawsuit challenges U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's Thursday order, which nullified the city's sanctuary city policies and named Terry Cole, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, as D.C.'s "emergency police commissioner," replacing current Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Pamela Smith.
The order also rescinded any previously issued directives by Smith related to MPD policy on immigration enforcement, directed the MPD to enforce local statutes on public space occupancy and demonstrations, and required all MPD leadership to obtain Cole's approval on policy decisions moving forward.
On Monday, Trump issued an executive order invoking Section 740 of the Home Rule Act, which grants the president the authority to place the MPD under federal control in the event of a declared emergency. The president also appointed Cole as the "interim commissioner of MPD." At the same time, Bondi stated that Gadyaces Serralta, the director of the U.S. Marshals Service, would be "supervising command and control" of "the entire operation" of the MPD.
