Washington, D.C., Police Chief Pamela Smith remained in command of the Metropolitan Police Department after the Trump administration withdrew an order that would have transferred the chief's powers to Drug Enforcement Administration head Terrance Cole.
The reversal came on August 15, 2025, after the District of Columbia filed a federal lawsuit and U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes held an emergency hearing over the administration's interpretation of presidential authority under the District's Home Rule Act.
Attorney General Pam Bondi's original August 14 directive, Order No. 6370-2025, named Cole as the city's "Emergency Police Commissioner" and stated that he would assume "all of the powers and duties" of the D.C. police chief. It also required senior MPD officials to obtain Cole's approval before issuing further directives.
Justice Department Rewrites Its Order
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb challenged that directive in federal court, arguing that the Home Rule Act allows the president to request temporary MPD services for federal purposes during specified emergency circumstances but does not permit the federal government to replace the locally appointed police chief or independently restructure the department's chain of command.
The District's Office of the Attorney General said in announcing the lawsuit that no president had previously attempted to exercise the Home Rule Act provision in this way during the District's period of home rule.
During the emergency hearing, Judge Reyes indicated that Cole could not directly command MPD officers outside the statutory process requiring federal requests to run through the mayor. Rather than wait for the court to rule on the District's request for immediate relief, the Justice Department agreed to revise the directive.
Later that day, Bondi issued Order No. 6372-2025, which expressly rescinded the previous order. The replacement described Cole as the attorney general's "designee" for directing Mayor Muriel Bowser to provide MPD services deemed necessary and appropriate under the emergency authority.
The revised order did not transfer Smith's duties to Cole or require the police chief to obtain his permission before issuing department directives. Smith therefore remained at the top of MPD's local command structure.
What the Revised Order Still Required
Although the dispute over direct command was narrowed, the new Justice Department order preserved significant federal demands involving police services.
It directed the mayor to provide MPD assistance with federal immigration enforcement, locating and detaining people the federal government identifies as unlawfully present in the United States, responding to federal law-enforcement database and information requests, and enforcing D.C. rules concerning unlawful occupancy of public spaces.
Those provisions left a separate legal disagreement over the extent to which the federal government could require MPD participation in immigration enforcement despite local laws and department policies. That issue was not resolved simply by keeping Smith in command.
Following the hearing, Schwalb said he expected the central dispute over MPD's command structure had been resolved, while litigation over other aspects of the administration's directives could continue.
How the Dispute Began
The confrontation followed President Donald Trump's August 11 declaration of a crime emergency in the District and his invocation of Section 740 of the 1973 District of Columbia Home Rule Act.
That provision permits the president, under specified emergency circumstances and for federal purposes, to direct the D.C. mayor to make Metropolitan Police Department services available to the federal government. The legal dispute centered on how far that authority extends and whether it permits federal officials to alter MPD's internal leadership.
Trump also ordered an expanded federal law-enforcement presence in the capital and deployed National Guard personnel as part of the administration's public-safety operation.
The administration said the intervention was necessary to address crime and protect the functioning of the federal government. District officials disputed the characterization of conditions as requiring such an intervention and argued that local crime trends did not justify transferring control of the police force.
Those competing political claims were distinct from the narrower legal issue before the court: whether the emergency provision of the Home Rule Act authorized the federal government to replace or bypass the District's established police chain of command.
Why the Command Question Mattered
Bondi's first directive would have made Cole responsible for powers normally exercised by Smith and required MPD leadership to seek his approval before issuing directives.
In a declaration submitted as part of the District's legal challenge, Smith warned that changing the chain of command in that manner could create operational confusion and risks for officers and the public.
After the revised federal directive was issued, the immediate prospect of Cole taking over Smith's position was removed. The broader federal deployment in Washington, however, continued, and disputes over immigration cooperation and the limits of emergency authority remained separate questions.
Historical Context
Federal authorities and National Guard personnel have supported security operations in Washington on previous occasions, including during major civil disturbances and around the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In 1989, President George H.W. Bush also authorized National Guard support during a period of severe drug-related violence in the District. Those earlier deployments, however, did not involve an attempt to replace the Metropolitan Police Department's chief under Section 740 of the Home Rule Act.
The August 2025 confrontation was therefore unusual not simply because federal personnel were deployed in Washington, but because it produced a direct legal dispute over who retained operational command of the city's local police department.
By the end of the August 15 hearing and the Justice Department's subsequent rewrite, that immediate question had become clearer: Pamela Smith continued to serve as chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, while Cole's role was limited to acting as the attorney general's designee for requesting specified police services through the mayor.
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