A memo states that officials are implementing the freeze to be “consistent with the Department’s goal of ensuring that the Federal Government speaks with one voice."

The U.S. Department of Justice has ordered its civil rights division to pause any ongoing litigation left over from the administration of former President Joe Biden, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday.

It also signaled it could seek to back out of Biden-era agreements with police departments that engaged in discrimination or violence.

The new Justice Department leadership has put a freeze on civil rights litigation, and suggested it may reconsider police reform agreements negotiated by the Biden administration.

The Trump administration is putting a halt to agreements that require reforms of police departments where the Justice Department found a pattern of misconduct, according to a memo issued Wednesday.

It said the new administration “may wish to reconsider” such agreements, raising the prospect that it may abandon two consent decrees finalized in the final weeks of the Biden