DEA choice signals intent for shakeup

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Loretta Lynch reached into the ranks of top FBI administrators Tuesday for new leadership at the troubled Drug Enforcement Administration.

Chuck Rosenberg, chief of staff to FBI Director James B. Comey, is expected to shake up DEA management practices and focus less on marijuana enforcement and more on heroin and other major drugs, a senior administration official said.

Former DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart was asked to resign last month because of dissatisfaction within the Obama administration over her handling of a scandal involving DEA agents hiring prostitutes and another incident in which agents forgot a detainee in a cell for nearly five days with no food or water.

Leonhart had long been at odds with former Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama over marijuana enforcement. Rosenberg is expected to improve the DEA's procedures on classifying, declassifying and reclassifying drugs, the official said.

Lynch appointed Rosenberg acting administrator, but he is expected to head the DEA for the remainder of the Obama administration. He will have to rebuild morale at the agency, where Leonhart was well-regarded.

Rosenberg “has proven himself as an exceptional leader, a skilled problem-solver and a consummate public servant of unshakable integrity,” Lynch said in a statement.