Washington, D.C., Police Chief Pamela Smith pushed back Friday morning on Attorney General Pam Bondi’s move to install the Drug Enforcement Agency chief at the head of the district’s police, warning that the directive could upend the department’s operations.

District officials are suing the Trump administration to block the action, arguing it goes beyond the emergency authorities in the D.C. Home Rule Act that President Trump invoked to surge law enforcement resources in the city.

On Thursday night, Bondi installed DEA administrator Terrance Cole as D.C.’s “emergency police commissioner,” assuming Smith’s duties as part of Trump’s takeover of the district’s police.

“If effectuated, the Bondi Order would upend the command structure of MPD, endangering the safety of the public and law enf

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