TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Oct 3, 2025

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller visited Memphis on Wednesday to discuss state and federal law enforcement presence in the city with law enforcement leaders, the Daily Memphian reports. Bondi told officers that the Trump administration wants “cops to be cops again,” while Miller pledged “zero tolerance” for gang and drug activity. Hegseth said President Donald Trump is closely monitoring the effort, which will soon include National Guard deployments and hundreds of Tennessee Highway Patrol state troopers. Trump signed a presidential memorandum Sept. 15 announcing the Memphis task force, which has since taken shape on the ground. U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, released a letter he has sent to Bondi and Hegseth that said, in part, “I still have many questions about how the Memphis Safety Task Force will work, the priorities of federal law enforcement and the mission of National Guard troops,” he wrote. “Many of the terms and structures of President Trump’s ... [m]emorandum ... remain undefined.”