The US Justice Department authorizes federal executions of death row inmates

The administration of the US President Donald Trump reported on April 24 that it would allow executions by firing squad, lethal injection with pentobarbital, electric chairs, and gas for executions at the federal level.

In his report, Acting Attorney General-Attorney General Todd Blanch said that President Joe Bidenʼs decision to abolish the death penalty "has caused immeasurable harm to victims of crime and, ultimately, to the rule of law itself".

The New York Times writes about this.

In 2021, under Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland declared a moratorium on federal executions and halted the use of lethal injections with pentobarbital. In his final days in office, President Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 of the 40 convicted murderers on federal death row. However, on the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order reinstating the death penalty in the federal prison system.

The Trump administration faces one major hurdle. By law, the federal government can only carry out executions in states that allow the death penalty, and they can be carried out in accordance with state protocols. For years, federal executions have taken place in Indiana, even though that state allows the death penalty only by lethal injection.

The Justice Department acknowledged this limitation in its report and recommended that the federal government find a new location for executions — in a state that allows other methods. The report says Mississippi allows executions by electrocution or firing squad if lethal injection or other methods are not available.

Execution by firing squad has rarely been used in the United States, but several states have recently allowed it as an alternative method if states cannot afford lethal injection. As of 2025, the only modern executions by firing squad were in Utah in 1977, 1996, and 2010. In 2025, South Carolina, which allowed the firing squad in 2021, executed three convicts.

The administration also said it was working on a rule aimed at shortening the federal appeals process in death penalty cases by years. Although ultimately the courts have the final say. The Justice Department said it plans to issue a rule that would impose new restrictions on the ability of death row inmates to seek clemency, including from the federal government.

The report also proposes expanding the types of crimes for which the federal death penalty is provided to “correct gaps and deficiencies” in current law. Any such changes would have to be approved by Congress.

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