The Justice Department has ordered its civil rights division to pause ongoing litigation and not engage in any new cases, according to The Washington Post. The order was issued Wednesday as Republican lawyer Harmeet Dhillon awaits Senate confirmation to lead the division.
The memo obtained by the Post instructs Civil Rights Division supervisor Kathleen Wolfe to ensure attorneys do not file “any new complaints, motions to intervene, agreed-upon remands, amicus briefs, or statements of interest.” The pause will freeze litigation linked to the Biden administration.
It is unclear how long the pause will remain in effect, though it will shut down the division for at least the first few weeks of the Trump administration, which is working through a slew of Senate confirmations for its nominees.
A separate memo sent to Wolfe orders the Civil Rights Division to inform the Justice Department’s chief of staff of any consent decrees finalized within the last 90 days, according to the Post.
When Dhillon will have her Senate confirmation hearing is still unknown. Nominations will take weeks to get through, with more prominent nominees having their hearings held sooner.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division largely enforces laws prohibiting discrimination. Former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department expedited the finalizing of multiple police reform agreements shortly after President Donald Trump won the election, according to the Post, doing so in an effort to avoid the new administration shutting them down.
