Terry Cole, the head of the Drug Enforcement Agency who was placed in charge of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department Thursday night, will not serve as the interim police chief — at least, for now — after the Trump administration reached a deal with District of Columbia lawyers at an emergency court hearing on Friday to keep the current D.C. police chief, Pamela Smith, in charge.
Legal representatives for both parties agreed to rewrite sections of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s executive order placing Cole at the helm of the MPD, after District Court Judge Ana Reyes signaled that, if the two sides didn’t reach an agreement, she would issue a temporary restraining order striking down the part of the executive order which placed Cole in charge.
After both sides discussed the issue privately for more than an hour, a lawyer for the Department of Justice said they were rewriting portions of the executive order that declared Cole the commissioner of the police department.
“Instead of section 1, we’re just going to say that Mr. Cole is going to serve as the designee of the attorney general for purposes of requesting services under the statute and the executive order,” said Yaakov Roth, a Justice Department attorney.
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While it’s a clear win for the District of Columbia, D.C. lawyers may still seek additional legal remedies. Mitchell Reich, a senior counsel for the District, requested the weekend to discuss subsequent sections of the order with the other side.
“As our police chief said, it’s the most dangerous situation she’s seen in 30 years, having the lack of clarity and having an inexperienced person on top of the department,” Reich said.
Reyes, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, had directed the two parties to find a deal by 6:30 p.m., or else she would grant a temporary restraining order to prohibit Cole from taking charge.
“I do think that section 1 of the order is plainly contrary to the statute,” Reyes said. “But I don’t want to issue a decision unless I have to, because I think it’s better for the parties to refute things out among themselves.”
“In the interim, until we get that new order, Mr. Cole is not going to be able to direct the police department individuals to do anything. I mean, he’s gonna have to go through the mayor,” Reyes said.
During the hearing, Reyes questioned Roth and Reich at length about how much authority the administration is entitled to over the police department, per the Home Rule Act.
“I don’t think I can say that this whole order violates the statute,” Reyes said to Reich. “I don’t think that the statute is as narrow as you think, or as broad as Mr. Roth thinks. So, what do you want me to do?”
Reyes said she wanted to reach a “practical solution.”
“Because time is short, and there are people who need to know who they’re taking direction from and what they’re doing,” Reyes continued.
Reyes also noted that Cole has “zero experience with either running a police department, or, so far as I can understand, dealing with D.C. crime.”
“They misspelled his name, by the way, on his badge and in Pam Bondi’s executive order,” Reyes said of Cole. “That doesn’t give a lot of confidence if you can’t get the guy’s name right.”
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed the suit only hours earlier on Friday, suing President Donald Trump for his federal takeover of the district’s police department. The lawsuit alleged the Trump administration violated the Home Rule Act of 1976, which granted the district local autonomy.
The agreement comes days after Trump ordered National Guard troops to roll into D.C.’s streets in what he said was a necessary crackdown on crime. Since then, dozens of arrests have been made, and federal and local officers set up a checkpoint Wednesday night on a popular D.C. street with the apparent goal of finding and arresting undocumented immigrants.
Trump is allowed to federalize the department for up to 30 days, according to federal law. He would need congressional approval to retain control longer than that, though he has already suggested his takeover may extend past 30 days.
During the hearing, Roth agreed that after 30 days, without congressional approval, the federalization would be over. Roth told the judge there was no issue he was “aware of” that could warrant a longer or subsequent takeover of the police department after this one ends.
Reyes suggested she would pick the issue up again next week, but the judge strongly tipped her hand throughout the hearing. In addition to telling Roth that if there were no agreement, she would issue the temporary restraining order, she also told Roth to “keep in mind” that if the TRO were violated, it would be contempt of court.
“Whereas if you guys get to an agreement, I have no role,” she said.
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