ATLANTA — Georgia U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath on Monday announced that she’s suspending her exploratory bid for governor in 2026, casting uncertainty on the Democratic field.

McBath might still run for governor that year, spokesperson Jake Orvis said, but she needs to focus on her husband Curtis’ health right now after complications from a recent cancer surgery.

The four-term member of Congress, best known as a gun control advocate, had filed papers on March 5 to raise money for governor.

McBath is remaining in Congress, Orvis said

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is completing his second term and can’t run again. On the Republican side, Attorney General Chris Carr is already running for governor in 2026 and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is widely expected to run.

Other Democrats who have been exploring a run include former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, state Sen. Jason Esteves and former DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Michael Thurmond. Democrat Stacey Abrams, who ran and lost to Kemp in 2018 and 2022, has not closed the door on a third run.

McBath first won election to Congress in 2018, ousting Republican U.S. Rep Karen Handel to seize a seat in Atlanta’s northern suburbs once held by Newt Gingrich. When Republicans redrew electoral districts after the 2020 Census, McBath jumped into a primary race against fellow Democrat Carolyn Bordeaux, beating her handily and winning election. Then after a court ordered another round of redistricting after finding African American votes were diluted, McBath shifted to a district Republicans drew on the western side of Atlanta.

Those moves mean McBath has represented a much larger number of voters than the typical member of Congress, which could make her a stronger statewide candidate.

McBath, like Abrams, would be bidding to become the first Black female governor of an American state.

The 64-year-old McBath rose to prominence as a gun control advocate after her 17-year-old son, Jordan Davis, was shot and killed in 2012 by a white man who was angry over the loud music the Black teenager and his friends were playing at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida. McBath, a former flight attendant, has had her political career heavily backed by billionaire and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

She has touted her support of a 2022 law that toughens background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keeps firearms from more domestic violence offenders and helps states enact red flag laws making it easier for authorities to take weapons from people judged dangerous.

McBath led a group of survivors and family members of victims of gun violence who spoke in a prime-time slot at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

SALT LAKE CITY — Former U.S. Rep. Mia Love of Utah, a daughter of Haitian immigrants who became the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, died Sunday.

She was 49.

Love’s family posted news of her death on Love’s X account.

She had undergone recent treatment for brain cancer and received immunotherapy as part of a clinical trial at Duke University’s brain tumor center. Her daughter said earlier this month that the former lawmaker was no longer responding to treatment.

Love died at her home in Saratoga Springs, Utah, according to a statement posted by the family.

“With grateful hearts filled to overflowing for the profound influence of Mia on our lives, we want you to know that she passed away peacefully,” her family said. “We are thankful for the many good wishes, prayers and condolences.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox referred to Love as a “true friend.”

“Her legacy of service inspired all who knew her,” Cox said in a statement. “We pray for her family and mourn with them.”

Love entered politics in 2003 after winning a seat on the city council in Saratoga Springs, a growing community about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City. She later became the city’s mayor.

In 2012, Love narrowly lost a bid for the House against the Democratic incumbent, former Rep. Jim Matheson, in a district that covers a string of Salt Lake City suburbs.

She ran again two years later and defeated first-time candidate Doug Owens by about 7,500 votes.

Love didn’t emphasize her race during her campaigns, but she acknowledged the significance of her election after her 2014 victory. She said her win defied naysayers who had suggested that a Black, Republican, Mormon woman couldn’t win a congressional seat in overwhelmingly white Utah.

She was briefly considered a rising star within the GOP and she kept her distance from Donald Trump, who was unpopular with many Utah voters, while he was running for president ahead of the 2016 election.

In 2016, facing reelection and following the release of a 2005 recording in which Trump made lewd comments about groping women, Love skipped the Republican National Convention and released a statement saying definitively that she would not vote for Trump. She instead endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the GOP race, but he dropped out months later.

While seeking a third term in 2018, Love tried to separate herself Trump on trade and immigration while still backing her party’s positions on tax cuts. Despite Republican voters outnumbering Democrats by a nearly three-to-one margin in her district, though, she lost by fewer than 700 votes to former Salt Lake City Mayor Ben McAdams, a Democrat.

Trump called out Love by name in a news conference the morning after she lost, where he also bashed other Republicans who didn’t fully embrace him.

“Mia Love gave me no love, and she lost,” Trump said. “Too bad. Sorry about that, Mia.”

After her loss, Love served as a political commentator on CNN and as a fellow at the University of Sydney.

Following Trump’s election in November, Love said she was “OK with the outcome.”

“Yes, Trump says a lot of inconsiderate things that are unfortunate and impossible to defend. However, his policies have a high probability of benefiting all Americans,” Love wrote in a social media post.

Hazel Dukes, the president of the New York State chapter of the NAACP and lifelong civil rights advocate, died Saturday at the age of 92.

Dukes peacefully passed away in her New York City home surrounded by family, her son, Ronald Dukes, said in a statement.

Dukes, who led the New York State NAACP for nearly five decades, fought tirelessly for voting rights, economic development, fair housing and education through her career. Even in her 90s, she spoke out against police brutality and for adequate health care in underserved neighborhoods, the NAACP’s New York State chapter said in a statement.

In 2023, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Dukes with the NAACP’s highest honor — the Spingarn Medal.

“I’m not tired yet,” Dukes said in her acceptance speech for the award. She added that she would continue her advocacy and empower the next generation of NAACP leaders.

Dukes helped lay the foundation for Black women to ascend to the nation’s highest offices. In 1972, she took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to second the presidential candidacy of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to run for the party’s nomination.

Dukes was instrumental in former President Joe Biden’s decision to choose a Black woman as his 2020 running mate, she noted in an interview with CBS last year. Her career-long fight was bookended by former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 bid for the presidency.

In a post in X Saturday, Harris called Dukes one of the heroes “upon whose broad shoulders we stand.”

“I’m just proud of Kamala. I’m just excited if I can live to see this happen. It would be the joy of my life,” Dukes said in the CBS interview.

Dukes was the president of her own consulting firm. She also served as the member of the NAACP National Board of Directors. Leaders of the NAACP said in a statement Saturday that Dukes was a “living embodiment” of the NAACP and that her legacy has touched every aspect of the movement.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams ordered flags to be lowered at half-staff as a tribute to Dukes.

LOS ANGELES — Former Vice President Kamala Harris stepped on the NAACP Image Awards stage Saturday night with a sobering message, calling the civil rights organization a pillar of the Black community and urging people to stay resilient and hold onto their faith during the tenure of President Donald Trump.

“While we have no illusions about what we are up against in this chapter in our American story, this chapter will be written not simply by whoever occupies the oval office nor by the wealthiest among us,” Harris said after receiving the NAACP’s Chairman’s Award. “The American story will be written by you. Written by us. By we the people.”

The 56th annual Image Awards was held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in the Los Angeles area.

Harris, defeated by Trump in last year’s presidential election, was the first woman and the first person of color to serve as vice president. She had previously been a U.S. senator from California and the state’s attorney general.

In her first major public appearance since leaving office, Harris did not reference her election loss or Trump’s actions since entering the Oval Office, although Trump mocked her earlier in the day at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Harris spoke about eternal vigilance, the price of liberty, staying alert, seeking the truth and America’s future.

“Some see the flames on our horizons, the rising waters in our cities, the shadows gathering over our democracy and ask ‘What do we do now?’” Harris said. “But we know exactly what to do, because we have done it before. And we will do it again. We use our power. We organize, mobilize. We educate. We advocate. Our power has never come from having an easy path.”

Other winners of the Chairman’s prize have included former President Barack Obama, the late Rep. John Lewis and the late actor Ruby Dee.

Harris was honored during the ceremony along with the Wayans family. The family was inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame in recognition of pioneering contributions to film, TV, sketch and stand-up comedy that have shaped Hollywood for decades.

Keenen Ivory Wayans, Damon Wayans Sr., Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Kim Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. each were recognized.

Marlon Wayans, whose guest appearance on Peacock’s “Bel-Air” was up for an NAACP award, shared how Keenen Ivory Wayans sparked the family’s rise.

“He raised us all like Jedis,” he said. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our big brother.”

Marlon Wayans joked that when his brother told their mom he was leaving college for comedy, she said, ”Boy, I’ve known you your whole life, and you ain’t never said nothing funny. That’s the funniest thing you’ve said.”

The crowd erupted in laughter, a fitting tribute to a family that has kept audiences laughing for more than three decades.

The family has a long list of credits. Keenen Ivory Wayans created the sketch comedy series “In Living Color” in 1990 and directed the 2000 slasher spoof “Scary Movie,” which was written by Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans, who also wrote and starred in “White Chicks” in 2004. Damon Wayan’s had a starring role in the 1995 comedy “Major Payne,” and currently co-stars with son Damon Wayans Jr. in the CBS sitcom “Poppa’s House,” which was nominated for an NAACP Award. The pair also were nominated for their acting on the show.

Damon Wayans Jr. has acted in two of the most critically acclaimed comedies in recent years: “Happy Endings” and “New Girl.” Kim Wayans, a comedian, actor and director, also received praise for her work in the 2011 drama “Pariah.”

Keke Palmer expressed her surprise after her name was called as winner of the coveted entertainment of the year.

“Oh my gosh. Guys, I didn’t think I was going to win,” said Palmer, who paid homage to fellow nominee Cynthia Erivo’s Oscar-nominated performance in “Wicked.”

Palmer starred in the buddy comedy “One of Them Days,” which debuted No. 1 at the box office last month. She also won an Emmy for her hosting efforts on NBC’s “Password.”

“It’s such an amazing category to be in with all these people,” Palmer said. “It’s a beautiful night. It’s Black History Month, y’all. It’s so important we all come here together and celebrate one another with one another.”

Other nominees included Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Hart and Shannon Sharpe.

Image Awards host Deon Cole honored residents of the nearby Altadena neighborhood who were affected by January’s devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires.

A video of the fire devastation played before actor Morris Chestnut took the stage.

“Homes were lost, stores destroyed, countless lives shattered and over two dozens souls gone forever,” said Chestnut, a Los Angeles native who referenced impacted areas such as Altadena, the Pacific Palisades and Malibu.

“But what was not lost is the spirit of our community,” said Chestnut, who noted 22 Altadena residents attended the show on Saturday. Many in the audience stood and applauded.

Cole shifted tone and brightened the mood with a comedic prayer for Kanye West’s wife to find more clothes after her barely-there Grammys look and for Shannon Sharpe to finally size up his T-shirts.

The opening act was a lead-up to the evening’s first award: Queen Latifah as best actress in a drama series for her role in “The Equalizer.”

Dave Chappelle was honored with the President’s Award for his “thought-provoking humor.”

Accepting the award, Chappelle talked about the NAACP’s push against negative portrayals of Black people in media and the importance of representation.

“Every opportunity we get, we just keep chipping away at this monster of a machine,” he said.

Past recipients of the President’s Award include Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill, Usher, Rihanna and John Legend.

NEW YORK — Former Vice President Kamala Harris is to receive the NAACP ‘s Chairman’s Award during the civil rights organization’s Image Awards ceremony this weekend.

Harris, defeated by Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election, was the first woman and the first person of color to serve as vice president. She had previously been a U.S. senator from California and the state’s attorney general.

“Vice President Kamala Harris is more than a leader — she is a force of change, driven by an unwavering passion to shape a brighter, more equitable future. It is with great honor that we present her with the Chairman’s Award at this year’s NAACP Image Awards, celebrating her relentless dedication to justice, equality, and the betterment of our society,” Leon W. Russell, chair of the NAACP’s national board of directors, said in a statement Monday.

Other winners of the Chairman’s prize have included former President Barack Obama, the late Rep. John Lewis and the late actor Ruby Dee.

The Image Awards, co-presented by the NAACP and BET, will take place Saturday at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California. Categories range from entertainer of the year to best movie to outstanding work of poetry.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Sunday posthumously pardoned Black nationalist Marcus Garvey, who influenced Malcolm X and other civil rights leaders and was convicted of mail fraud in the 1920s. Also receiving pardons were a top Virginia lawmaker and advocates for immigrant rights, criminal justice reform and gun violence prevention.

Congressional leaders had pushed for Biden to pardon Garvey, with supporters arguing that Garvey’s conviction was politically motivated and an effort to silence the increasingly popular leader who spoke of racial pride. After Garvey was convicted, he was deported to Jamaica, where he was born. He died in 1940.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said of Garvey: “He was the first man, on a mass scale and level” to give millions of Black people “a sense of dignity and destiny.”

It’s not clear whether Biden, who leaves office Monday, will pardons people who have been criticized or threatened by President-elect Donald Trump.

Issuing preemptive pardons — for actual or imagined offenses by Trump’s critics that could be investigated or prosecuted by the incoming administration — would stretch the powers of the presidency in untested ways.

Biden has set the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued. He announced on Friday that he was commuting the sentences of almost 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. He also gave a broad pardon for his son Hunter, who was prosecuted for gun and tax crimes.

The president has announced he was commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just as Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. In his first term, Trump presided over an unprecedented number of executions, 13, in a protracted timeline during the coronavirus pandemic.

A pardon relieves a person of guilt and punishment. A commutation reduces or eliminates the punishment but doesn’t exonerate the wrongdoing.

Among those pardoned on Sunday were:

— Don Scott, who is the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates in a chamber narrowly controlled by Democrats. He was convicted of a drug offense in 1994 and served eight years in prison. He was elected to the Virginia legislature in 2019, and later became the first Black speaker.

“I am deeply humbled to share that I have received a Presidential Pardon from President Joe Biden for a mistake I made in 1994 — one that changed the course of my life and taught me the true power of redemption,” Scott said in a statement.

—Immigrant rights activist Ravi Ragbir, who was convicted of a nonviolent offence in 2001 and was sentenced to two years in prison and was facing deportation to Trinidad and Tobago.

—Kemba Smith Pradia, who was convicted of a drug offense in 1994 and sentenced to 24 years behind bars. She has since become a prison reform activist. President Bill Clinton commuted her sentence in 2000.

—Darryl Chambers of Wilmington, Delaware, a gun violence prevention advocate who was convicted of a drug offense and sentenced to 17 years in prison. He studies and writes about gun violence prevention.

Biden commuted the sentences of two people:

—Michelle West, who was serving life in prison for her role in a drug conspiracy case in the early 1990s. West has a daughter who has written publicly about the struggle of growing up with a mother behind bars.

—Robin Peoples, who was convicted of robbing banks in northwest Indiana in the late 1990s and was sentenced to 111 years in prison. The White House said in a statement that Peoples would have faced significantly lower sentences today under current laws.

___

Associated Press writer Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Respected Ohio attorney and former state Sen. Ben Espy will be remembered at a celebration of life Monday for his decades of service to the state and its capital city.

Espy died on Jan. 4 at age 81 after a brief illness.

Espy, a Democrat, broke racial barriers as the first Black person to serve as president pro tem of the city council in the capital, Columbus, for most of the 1980s and as minority leader of the Ohio Senate, where he served from 1991 to 2000.

Though his hopes of attaining higher office were ultimately dashed, Espy continued to earn honors from members of both parties throughout his career.

Then- Democratic Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann tapped Espy as his top lieutenant in 2007 and chose Espy in 2009 to lead a high-profile internal investigation into allegations of sexual harassment at the office. The final report was damning.

“I don’t think anyone anywhere is going to question Ben Espy’s integrity,” Dann’s spokesperson, Leo Jennings, remarked at the time.

Two years later, Republican Maureen O’Connor invited Espy to deliver the keynote address at her swearing-in ceremony as Ohio’s first female chief justice.

Espy’s most lasting efforts were probably in the city of Columbus.

He established the city’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, now one of the nation’s largest, as well as the Columbus Youth Corps, a program teaching ethics and professionalism to young people that was designated as one of President George H.W. Bush’s “points of light.”

He also created “The Job Show,” a cable program produced by the city that helped people find jobs. It was named the best municipal cable program in the U.S. in 1986 and 1987.

“He was the community’s person,” daughter Laura Espy-Bell said. “We’re hearing countless stories of people whose lives were changed because of my dad.”

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther remembered Espy as “a remarkable leader and advocate” for city residents. U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, who represents Columbus in Congress, said Espy’s legacy “is felt in every corner of community.”

Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin called Espy “a towering statesman and a fighter for justice and equality.”

“Ben Espy is the kind of trailblazer on whose shoulders so many of us stand now,” Hardin posted on X.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 12, 1943, Espy graduated in 1961 from Sandusky High School, where he played football and ran track. He was recruited to Woody Hayes’ Ohio State Buckeyes football team, where he was a running back. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1965 with a bachelor’s in political science and went on to earn a law degree from Howard University in 1968.

Espy began his legal career as a corporate lawyer for Allegheny Airlines and then entered the U.S. Air Force, serving as an assistant staff judge advocate. He returned to Ohio in 1972, where he began the first of his stints at the Ohio Attorney General’s office before starting his own law practice and eventually entering politics.

He and his wife, Kathy Duffy Espy, who died in 2022, had four daughters and 11 grandchildren. Espy-Bell said that by day her father worked hard for the community, but at night he always had time to read a bedtime story to his daughters or attend his grandchildren’s soccer games.

Espy was involved in a freak accident in 1984 in which he was struck by a falling cornice that broke off an aging building in downtown Columbus as he walked by. He lost the lower part of his right leg.

Espy-Bell said her father didn’t let that slow him down.

“Two things got him through that,” she said. “One was the strength of my mother to carry our family through, raising four little girls. The other was the strength of my father, in his resiliency, to come back even stronger and even better.”

Derrick Clay, president and CEO of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, said Espy’s story “reminds us all that challenges can become opportunities to make an even greater impact.”

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff in Espy’s honor on the day of his funeral.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is expected to secure the 235th judicial confirmation of his presidency as soon as Friday, an accomplishment that exceeds his predecessor’s total by one after Democrats put extra emphasis on the federal courts following Donald Trump’s far-reaching first term when he filled three seats to the Supreme Court.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has teed up votes on two potential California district judges, likely to be the last judicial confirmations this year before the Congress adjourns and makes way for a new, Republican-led Senate. He said he hoped to complete the votes by the end of Friday.

The first confirmation will tie Trump’s number, the second will break it. Come next year, Republicans will look to boost Trump’s already considerable influence on the makeup of the federal judiciary in his second term.

Biden and Senate Democrats placed particular focus on adding women, minorities and public defenders to the judicial rank. About two-thirds of Biden’s appointees are women and a majority of appointees are people of color. The most notable appointee was Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first African-American woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.

“Prior to our effort, the number of women on the federal bench was really diminished. It was overwhelmingly white males,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “We consciously moved forward to bring more women to the bench, and believe me, we had a great talent pool to work with. So I think it’ll enhance the image of the court and its work product to bring these new judges on.”

Biden also placed an emphasis on bringing more civil rights lawyers, public defenders and labor rights lawyers to expand the professional backgrounds of the federal judiciary. More than 45 appointees are public defenders and more than two dozen served as civil rights lawyers.

While Biden did get more district judges confirmed than Trump, he had fewer of higher-tier circuit court appointments than Trump — 45 compared to 54 for Trump. And he got one Supreme Court appointment compared to three for Trump. Republicans, much to Democrats frustration, filled Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the court the week before the 2020 presidential election. Ginsburg had passed away in September.

Democrats also faced the challenge of confirming nominees during two years of a 50-50 Senate. Rarely a week went by in the current Congress when Schumer did not tee up votes on a judicial confirmation as liberal groups urged Democrats to show the same kind of urgency on judges that Republicans exhibited under Trump.

Some Senate Republicans were harshly critical of Biden’s choices. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said talk of diversity did not extend to the views of the nominees.

“One of the consequences of the age of Trump is that it drove Democrats insane and it drove them to the extreme left, so they put people on the bench who were selected because they were extreme partisans,” Cruz said.

Liberal-leaning advocacy groups said they are delighted with the number of judges Democrats secured, but even more so with the quality of the nominees. They said diversity in personal and professional backgrounds improves judicial decision-making, helps build public trust and inspires people from all walks of life to pursue legal careers.

“For our federal judiciary to actually deliver equal justice for all, it really has to be for all, and that is one reason why we certainly applaud this administration for prioritizing both professional but also demographic diversity,” said Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Democrats showed newfound resolve on judicial confirmations.

“They learned a lesson from the first Trump administration,” Grassley said. “Paying attention to the number of judges you get and the type of judges you put on the court is worth it.”

Part of the urgency from Democrats came as they watched the nation’s highest court overturn abortion protections, eliminate affirmative action in higher education and weaken the federal government’s ability to protect the environment, public health and workplace safety through regulations. The cases showed that the balance of power in Washington extends to the judicial branch.

Trump will inherit nearly three dozen judicial vacancies, but that number is expected to rise because of Republican-appointed judges who held off on retirement in hopes that a Republican would return to office and pick their replacement.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., acknowledged that the sense of accomplishment for Democrats is muted somewhat knowing that Trump will have another term to continue shaping the federal judiciary.

“I’m not ready to uncork the champagne just because we’ve done some really good work over the last four years,” Blumenthal said. “We need to be prepared to work, hope for the best and try to defeat nominees who are simply unqualified. We have our work cut out for us. The prospects ahead are sobering.”

Grassley promised that he’ll work to best Biden’s number.

“Let me assure you, by January 20th of 2029, Trump will be bragging about getting 240 judges,” Grassley said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The U.S. Justice Department and the city of Louisville have reached an agreement to reform the city’s police force after an investigation prompted by the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, officials said Thursday.

The consent decree, which must be approved by a judge, follows a federal investigation that found Louisville police have engaged in a pattern of violating constitutional rights and discrimination against the Black community.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said the “historic content decree” will build upon and accelerate, this transformational police reform we have already begun in Louisville.” He noted that “significant improvements” have already been implemented since Taylor’s death in March 2020. That includes a city law banning the use of “no-knock” warrants.

The Justice Department report released in March 2023 said the Louisville police department “discriminates against Black people in its enforcement activities,” uses excessive force and conducts searches based on invalid warrants. It also said the department violates the rights of people engaged in protests.

“This conduct harmed community members and undermined public trust in law enforcement that is essential for public safety,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who leads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This consent decree marks a new day for Louisville.”

Once the consent decree is agreed upon, a federal officer will monitor the progress made by the city.

The Justice Department under the Biden administration opened 12 civil rights investigations into law enforcement agencies, but this is the first that has reached a consent decree. The Justice Department and the city of Springfield, Massachusetts announced an agreement in 2022 but the investigation into that police department was opened under President Donald Trump’s first administration.

City officials in Memphis have taken a different approach, pushing against the need for a Justice Department consent decree to enact reforms in light of a federal investigation launched after Tyre Nichols’ killing that found Memphis officers routinely use unwarranted force and disproportionately target Black people. Memphis officials have not ruled eventually agreeing to a consent decree, but have said the city can make changes more effectively without committing to a binding pact.

It remains to be seen what will happen to attempts to reach such agreements between cities and the Justice Department once President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. The Justice Department under the first Trump administration curtailed the use of consent decrees, and the Republican president-elect is expected to again radically reshape the department’s priorities around civil rights.