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.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has announced that DEA Administrator Terrence Cole will temporarily serve as the chief of Washington, D.C.'s police department.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back on the order, saying "there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official."

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

"Commissioner Cole shall assume all of the powers and duties vested in the District of Columbia Chief of Police," Pam Bondi said on Aug. 14.

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