The Department of Justice announced on Friday a series of policy changes intended to expand the use of the federal death penalty, including the readoption of a single-drug lethal injection protocol and the addition of firing squads as a permitted execution method.
Policy Announcement
The Department of Justice (DOJ) released a policy document on Friday outlining plans to strengthen the federal death penalty. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the department would seek to reverse commutations issued by former President Joe Biden in December 2024, which converted the sentences of 37 of 40 federal death row inmates to life imprisonment.
The DOJ has readopted a lethal injection protocol using the drug pentobarbital, which was used during the first administration of President Donald Trump. The Bureau of Prisons has been instructed to modify the execution protocol to include alternative methods, such as firing squads, electrocution, and gas asphyxiation. The department stated that adding alternative methods would allow executions to proceed even if specific lethal injection drugs are unavailable.
Acting Attorney General Blanche has authorized prosecutors to seek death sentences against 44 defendants, including nine previously authorized cases. Prosecutors in California have been authorized to seek the death penalty for three alleged members of the MS-13 gang charged with killing a cooperating witness.
The department stated that adding alternative methods would allow executions to proceed even if specific lethal injection drugs are unavailable.
Background and Timeline
Federal executions were on hold from 2021 under a moratorium imposed by former Attorney General Merrick Garland. In February 2025, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi ended the moratorium and directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty in appropriate cases. President Trump signed an executive order in January 2025 committing to pursue federal death sentences.
During Trump's first term, federal executions resumed in 2020 after a nearly 20-year pause, with 13 prisoners executed by lethal injection. Former President Biden imposed a moratorium on federal executions in 2021 and at the end of his term commuted the sentences of 37 of 40 federal death row inmates.
Current Federal Death Row
Three defendants remain on federal death row after the commutations: Dylann Roof, convicted of the 2015 Charleston church shooting; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing; and Robert Bowers, convicted of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. None of these three is currently eligible for execution under current Justice Department rules.
Execution Methods
The DOJ has readopted a lethal injection protocol using pentobarbital as the lethal agent. The protocol was expanded to include additional methods:
- Firing squads, a method currently authorized in five states: Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah
- Electrocution
- Gas asphyxiation
The report states that lethal injection remains the most common method but has a higher rate of complications than other methods. The U.S. Supreme Court has not previously found an adopted execution method unconstitutional.
Planned Streamlining Measures
The DOJ plans to consider a rule to streamline federal habeas review of capital cases. A proposed rule would prohibit capital inmates from submitting clemency petitions.
Context on Public Opinion and State-Level Data
According to Gallup, public support for the death penalty has declined from 80% in 1994 to 52% in 2025. The Death Penalty Information Center reported that executions in the US rose from 25 in 2024 to 47 in 2025, with 19 occurring in Florida. The Death Penalty Information Center estimates 202 exonerations since 1973.
Reactions
The announcement generated statements from various groups. Cassandra Stubbs of the American Civil Liberties Union stated that the Department of Justice "embraces forms of execution that have been widely denounced for their cruelty." Senator Dick Durbin called the death penalty "barbaric" and said the actions "will be remembered as a stain on our nation's history."
Pope Leo XIV released a video message reiterating the Catholic Church's teaching that each human life is sacred from conception to natural death and that dignity is not lost after serious crimes.
Legal challenges to new execution methods are anticipated.