Federal prosecutors are closing in on criminal charges in the Key Bridge disaster and could take their case to a grand jury sometime in the new year, according to sources with knowledge of the case.

But uncertainty over President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for the Department of Justice and the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office has raised the possibility that, if charges are not brought before Trump’s inauguration, the case could be delayed or reduced in scope.

Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek Barron’s office and U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco’s office have had regular meetings about the case, and sources familiar with the investigation who were granted anonymity to discuss the ongoing inquiry have said Barron is trying for an indictment before he leaves his post, which may prove difficult given the nature of the case.

U.S. attorneys are nominated by the president and 46 were abruptly asked to resign early in Trump’s first term. Trump has already nominated one of his personal criminal defense lawyers, Todd Blanche, to replace Monaco. Spokespeople for Barron and Monaco both declined comment for this article.

Prosecutors are weighing whether to bring criminal charges against executives of Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Group, the Singapore-based companies who own and operate the Dali, the cargo ship that hit the Key Bridge and caused its collapse. The 984-foot-long container ship lost power multiple times after leaving the Port of Baltimore in the early morning hours of March 26 and slammed into a critical support pier of the Key Bridge. The bridge collapsed within seconds, killing six men who were doing work on the span.

“Everything is trending in the direction of potential charges,” a source familiar with the investigation said. “It’s just [determining] what kind of charges and the scope of the targets.”

Darrell Wilson, a spokesperson for Synergy Marine and Grace Ocean, said the companies are not aware of “any imminent criminal charges,” but would not comment further on the investigation.

“Synergy Marine and Grace Ocean have been cooperating fully with the government’s investigation,” Wilson said.

The government revealed some of its thinking in September when the DOJ’s civil division filed a lawsuit against Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine that accused the companies of gross misconduct and negligence. The suit, which documented evidence of the Dali’s electrical systems being “jury-rigged” and a crucial backup system having been “recklessly disabled,” was settled within a month for $100 million, which is what the federal government originally sought from the companies. Had the backup system been functional, the ship likely would have been able to regain power and steering, and avoid the bridge.

There are a few sections of criminal law that could apply to this case, but the most likely is misconduct or neglect of ship officers. Commonly known as “seaman’s manslaughter,” prosecutors have to prove a lower level of negligence to secure a conviction compared to traditional manslaughter charges.

Seaman’s manslaughter dates to 1838 and is typically used against ship’s officers, like a captain or engineer. But there is also a provision of the law which allows a prosecutor to charge a ship owner, charterer or the corporate officers of the company that manages it, said Martin Davies, a professor of maritime law at Tulane University.

It is rare and controversial for a corporate executive to be charged under that statute, Davies said. But it has happened. The New York City ferry director was charged in 2004 after a 2003 incident that killed 11 people. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year and a day imprisonment.

When announcing the civil suit against Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine, Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer said the companies had pursued unsafe workarounds to the Dali’s systems “out of negligence, mismanagement, and, at times, a desire to cut costs.”

FBI agents raided the Dali in April and then raided in September a sister ship of the same make that is also managed by Synergy Marine when it docked in Baltimore. Investigators are working to determine what Synergy Marine or Grace Ocean knew of the Dali’s troubles and who may have still cleared it for departure. When a ship like the Dali has an error, its onboard systems are supposed to simultaneously send a notice of the problem to the company responsible for it, sources and industry experts said. Usually those reports are in the form of an email or some other electronic message.

The Dali suffered multiple other power outages while docked in Baltimore this spring but did not report them to the Coast Guard as required by law, according to the DOJ’s civil division. And the Dali’s captain, according to the same filing, did not disclose the power losses, or the ship’s history of mechanical and electrical defects to the Maryland pilot in charge of steering the ship out of Baltimore’s port and through the Chesapeake Bay.

Whether Trump’s Justice Department or a Trump-picked Maryland U.S. attorney would want to pursue a criminal case against a corporation is also in question. Oftentimes when administrations turn over there is a change in ethos and points of emphasis, said Abbe Smith, a professor of criminal defense law at Georgetown Law.

Trump’s priorities for federal law enforcement are expected to focus heavily on the mass deportation of migrants who entered the country illegally. Project 2025, a presidential road map written by Trump allies but not endorsed by the president-elect, recommends focusing on immigration, violent crime and election integrity.

“I don’t know if this sort of corporate oversight would be a priority in the Trump Justice Department,” Smith said, adding that the president-elect’s history of bashing Baltimore and threats to punish his political enemies, meaning Democrats, could be a factor in any federal decision.

A new administration, both locally and in Washington, would also require time to get up to speed. As those officials determine their priorities, it’s possible the Dali investigation could get stuck in neutral, Andrew Alperstein, a Baltimore defense attorney and former CNN legal commentator, said. Cases can grow stale when they sit, even though the evidence may remain the same.

But a change in administration at the upper levels may not immediately be felt among the career civil servants, said Rod Rosenstein, a U.S. deputy attorney general under Trump and a former U.S. attorney for Maryland.

“There might be differences of opinion about particular prosecutorial theories to pursue or whether the quantity of evidence should be higher or lower, but by and large the changes of leadership do not affect cases in the Department of Justice,” Rosenstein said.

The companies involving the Dali being Singaporean could further complicate any potential proceedings. Extradition, issues of territorial jurisdiction and even locating the true owners of the ship — the industry is notorious for obfuscation — would all be factors regardless of the Trump administration’s views on the case.

While it may be easier to charge the Dali’s captain or chief engineer, doing so could be perceived as the government scapegoating individuals who were underpaid relative to American seafarers and who lacked the authority to make substantive decisions about the maintenance and conditions aboard the ship, Davies said.

Some Baltimore-area attorneys, like the prominent William “Billy” Murphy Jr., said Barron should stay in his post until the criminal investigation has run its course, which Murphy hopes happens “sooner, rather than later.” Replacing Barron, Murphy said, would only serve to throw a wrench in a case that is of great public importance to the people of Maryland.

“When you’re in the middle of serious litigation and the government has a stake in making sure the perpetrators of the bridge collapse get brought to justice, then there’s no good reason to replace [Barron] now,” said Murphy, who has filed lawsuits against Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine on behalf of the longshoremen at the Port of Baltimore and a road inspector who was on the bridge when the Dali hit it and was able to run to safety.

There is some precedent, at least in Maryland, for a U.S. attorney being held over by an incoming administration. Rosenstein was appointed to the position in 2005 by President George W. Bush, and remained in the job through both of President Barack Obama’s terms.