Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the changes intended to “strengthen the federal death penalty” in a statement.
The ministry ordered the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to restore the execution protocol from Donald Trump's first presidential term, based on the use of pentobarbital as a lethal agent. At the same time, he directed the BOP to expand the protocol to include additional methods of execution, including the use of a firing squad.
Department talks about 'deterrence'
The decision is part of a broader package of actions announced on Friday, the purpose of which is – as the department explains – “to deter the most barbaric crimes, bring justice to victims and provide long-awaited closure for victims' loved ones.”
In a report on the death penalty published on Friday, the department also recommended examining the possibility of carrying out executions using various methods, including the electric chair and the gas chamber. In 2025, the state of Alabama carried out the first execution by asphyxiating a prisoner with nitrogen. The prisoner then requested that the method of execution be changed to shooting.
“The previous administration failed in its duty to protect Americans by refusing to deliver maximum punishment to the most dangerous criminals, including terrorists, child murderers and police officer killers,” Acting Attorney General Blanche said.
The actions announced on Friday are the implementation of the executive order that Trump signed on the first day after returning to the White House in January 2025. It obliged DS to prioritize seeking death sentences and execute them immediately.
In the statement, the ministry sharply criticizes the policy of the administration of former President Joe Biden. She accuses her and then-Attorney General Merrick Garland of introducing an indefinite moratorium on federal executions, refraining from seeking the death penalty even in cases recommended by prosecutors, and Biden commuting the death sentences of 37 of 40 convicts.
Since Trump took office, the Justice Department has lifted Biden's moratorium and authorized seeking the death penalty against 44 defendants. Blanche has already personally approved motions in nine cases, including three members of the Salvadoran MS-13 gang, two of whom are illegal immigrants accused of murdering a federal witness.
