The Justice Department has reinstated the federal death penalty and expanded execution methods to include firing squads, aiming to expedite capital cases and reverse previous restrictions.
The Department of Justice announced Friday that it is expanding federal execution methods to include firing squads and readopting the lethal injection protocols used during the first Trump administration, a significant reversal of Biden-era policies. Under the direction of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the department is rescinding the previous moratorium on capital punishment and streamlining internal processes to expedite federal death penalty cases. “Among the actions taken are readopting the lethal injection protocol utilized during the first Trump Administration,” the Justice Department stated in a news release, “expanding the protocol to include additional manners of execution such as the firing squad, and streamlining internal processes to expedite death penalty cases.”
Blanche emphasized that the shift is a return to enforcing the law and standing with victims, asserting that “the prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals, including terrorists, child murderers, and cop killers. Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Justice is once again enforcing the law and standing with victims.” The new measures aim to significantly reduce the time between conviction and execution as the department authorized seeking death sentences against 44 defendants.