By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive late on Thursday naming Drug Enforcement Administration head Terry Cole as the "emergency police commissioner" of Washington's Metropolitan Police Department.

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.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has named the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration as Washington’s “emergency police commissioner,” saying she is granting him the powers of the police chief amid President Donald Trump’s takeover.

New order will have DEA head serve as the designee of the attorney general for the purposes of requesting service.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed to back away from appointing a commissioner to take command of Washington, D.C., police after a federal judge expressed concerns Friday. Government attorneys said at a hearing that Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) head Terry Cole will instead become President Trump’s designee to request services from the Metropolitan Police Department

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday evening ordered DC’s mayor and police department to accept Terry Cole, the head of the Drug Enforcement Agency, as the district’s “emergency police commissioner” and give him full control of the department during the federal takeover — quickly drawing rebukes from the district’s mayor and attorney general,

The head of the DEA has been given the powers of D.C.’s police chief, part of a Trump administration law enforcement takeover that’s bringing more federal agents and National Guard troops into the city.

President Donald Trump announced earlier this week the decision to federalize Washington, D.C., as he cited crime and violence.