Full Breakdown
DOJ Reauthorizes Firing Squads for Federal Executions
4/25/2026, 5:05:22 AM
Background & Context
In 2021 President Joe Biden halted federal executions and commuted 37 death-row sentences, leaving only three inmates—Robert Gregory Bowers, Dylann Roof and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev—on death rows. Donald Trump carried out 13 executions and signed an executive order directing Attorney General to seek death penalty for crimes involving slain officers or undocumented immigrants and to help states obtain lethal-injection drugs.
Core Policy Shift
On 24 April 2026 the Justice Department memo authorized firing squads, electrocution, pentobarbital injections and nitrogen gas for federal death-row inmates. It directs the Federal Bureau of Prisons to readopt the single-shot pentobarbital protocol from the first Trump administration, to streamline execution processes, consider new facilities, and review the 37 commuted inmates for possible state capital charges.
Data & Statistics
Trump’s term saw 13 federal executions; Biden later commuted 37 sentences. Five states—Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah—permit firing squads, with Idaho adopting it as its primary method. A 2025 Gallup poll shows 52% support for the death penalty, but a majority of adults 18-43 oppose it. The DOJ report notes the Supreme Court has never ruled a method unconstitutional. Florida’s death-row holds 246 inmates, broken down by race and gender.
Official Statements & Responses
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called the Biden moratorium a failure to protect the American people and framed the new policy as a return to law-and-order. The DOJ memo described the action as restoring the department’s solemn duty to seek, obtain and implement lawful capital sentences, emphasizing the need to preserve and enhance the death penalty’s role in deterrence, victim-family closure and societal values.
Criticism & Opposition
Anti-death-penalty advocates and inmate attorneys argue the expanded methods are cruel and unusual, citing expired chemicals and insufficient dosages in state executions. A 2025 Gallup poll shows low support, especially among younger adults. Critics note the Death Penalty Information Center’s finding that capital punishment does not deter crime.
Verbatim Quotes
- “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,” — Todd Blanche, Acting Attorney General
- “Bravo. Would love to see this in Florida.” — Jason Weida, Chief of Staff to Governor Ron DeSantis (Twitter post, 24 April 2026)
- “It is unfathomable that, in 2025, South Carolina would execute one of its citizens in this bloody spectacle.” — Gerald “Bo” King, Attorney for Brad Sigmon
- “There is much that can be done to preserve and enhance the death penalty’s role in deterring heinous crimes, bringing closure to victims’ families, and affirming society’s most fundamental values,” — DOJ report, “Restoring and Strengthening the Federal Death Penalty.”
