The Trump administration on Friday appeared to back off of its attempt to install a new “emergency” head of the Washington police force after local officials challenged the move in federal court.
The Justice Department identified Terry Cole, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, as the new “emergency police commissioner” in an order on Thursday, stipulating that he would assume “all of the powers and duties” held by the District’s police chief. It also ordered leadership at the Metropolitan Police Department to get Cole’s signoff before issuing any directives.
Local district officials quickly sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. They described the order as a “brazen usurpation of the District’s authority over its own government” and said it “threatens to upend the command structure of MPD and wreak operational havoc within the department.” The litigation also argues that Trump far exceeded his power under a section of the Home Rule Act.
