Attorney General Pam Bondi tapped the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chief Thursday to serve as Washington’s “emergency police commissioner,” a move to wrest power from the District’s current police chief amid the Trump administration’s law enforcement takeover.

The attorney general’s comments came as she issued a new directive voiding commands issued – as recently as earlier Thursday –  by DC Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith.

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday evening issued an additional order that directs the District of Columbia’s police force to

D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith will remain in control of the Metropolitan Police Department after D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit Friday challenging what he called an unlawful attempt by the federal government to seize control of the city’s police force.

The meeting came after Trump on Monday announced plans to use a 1973 D.C. Home Rule Act provision to send National Guard troops to D.C. and temporarily federalize the city.

The left sees President Donald Trump’s attempted takeover of law enforcement in Washington as part of multifront march to autocracy