Justice Department smothers Biden-era police reform deals
President Donald Trump’s Justice Department on Wednesday scrapped police reform agreements with Minneapolis and Louisville, Kentucky—two cities where high-profile police killings of Black Americans ignited nationwide protests—abandoning what was left of the former Biden administration’s push for accountability.
Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general in charge of the department’s Civil Rights Division, claimed the consent decrees constituted an “anti-police agenda,” saying in a press release:
Overbroad police consent decrees divest local control of policing from communities where it belongs, turning that power over to unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats, often with an anti-police agenda. … Today, we are ending the Biden Civil Rights Division’s failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders and police departments with factually unjustified consent decrees.
Consent decrees are legally binding court agreements meant to enforce civil rights reforms in departments found to have engaged in unconstitutional practices. Though unpopular with police unions and conservative officials—including Trump, who’s spent years cozying up to law enforcement—they’re one of the most powerful tools for cracking down on serious misconduct.
The Trump administration, however, sees them as government overreach and is reversing course.
The Justice Department said Wednesday that it would move to dismiss the Louisville and Minneapolis consent decrees, which it claims had no “legally or factually adequate basis” and would lead to “years of micromanagement” and “potentially hundreds of millions” in compliance costs.
The move comes just days ahead of the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s murder. On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nearly 10 minutes. Weeks earlier, police in Louisville had shot and killed medical worker Breonna Taylor in her home. The killings touched off historic protests and demands for systemic change.
In response, former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department launched at least a dozen investigations into police departments across the country and released scathing findings detailing unconstitutional policing in multiple cities. The consent decrees with Minneapolis (January 2025) and Louisville (December 2024) were arguably the most concrete reforms to come out of that effort. Though signed, neither agreement had been finalized by a judge.
Trump’s DOJ isn’t stopping there, though. Officials say they’re also ending ongoing investigations into other departments, including those in Phoenix, Memphis, and Oklahoma City, essentially gutting the department’s civil rights enforcement efforts.
These moves align with the Trump administration’s broader pivot away from racial justice and civil rights—and toward Trump’s preferred crusades, like his recent focus on alleged antisemitism on college campuses. It also comes as some on the right move to recast Floyd’s murder, including recent calls by right-wing figures for Chauvin to receive a presidential pardon, though it’s unclear if one is forthcoming.
In this administration, the priority seems to be punishing protesters and whistleblowers, not protecting victims of state violence.
Still, city leaders are promising to move ahead with reforms, even without federal enforcement.
“We will implement every reform outlined in the consent decree,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said. “Accountability isn’t optional. … The public can count on clear, measurable proof that our reforms are moving forward.”
But Trump’s DOJ is making its position clear: If you’re seeking justice through federal oversight, you’re on your own.
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