The Justice Department announced Friday it is reinstating firing squads and lethal injection as execution methods for federal death penalty cases, marking a major shift in capital punishment policy under the Trump administration.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche authorized the department to seek death sentences against nine people following the rescission of a Biden-era moratorium on federal executions. The move represents a return to execution protocols used during Trump's first term as president.
The department said it is readopting the lethal injection protocol from the first Trump administration while expanding execution methods to include firing squads. Officials framed the decision as part of a broader effort to streamline internal processes and expedite death penalty cases.
"These steps are critical to deterring the most barbaric crimes, delivering justice for victims, and providing long-overdue closure to surviving loved ones," the department said in a statement.
Blanche echoed that rationale in his own remarks. "Under President Trump's leadership, the Department of Justice is once again enforcing the law and standing with victims," he said.
Federal executions had effectively halted for nearly two decades before Trump took office in 2017. During his first term, the administration restarted the practice, which had remained suspended under President Biden.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The return of firing squads signals a hard pivot toward maximum enforcement in capital cases, but questions about execution methods and their constitutionality are far from settled."
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