The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has directed federal prisons to expand the range of methods used for executions to include firing squads, gas asphyxiation and electrocution.
In a 48-page memo released on Friday, the department says this will “strengthen” the death penalty, “deterring the most barbaric crimes, delivering justice for victims, and providing long-overdue closure to surviving loved ones”.
The previous administration had placed a moratorium on most federal executions. Before leaving office, former president Joe Biden gave clemency to 37 of the 40 federal death row prisoners.
President Donald Trump directed the DOJ to resume seeking executions on his first day in office last year.
The memo also defends the use of lethal injection, calling the drug pentobarbital “the gold standard of lethal injection drugs”.
It has been the default means for federal executions since 1993 but has faced criticism by campaigners as being a cruel means of execution, and there have been challenges in recent years in sourcing the drug.
Broadening the means of executions “will help ensure the Department is prepared to carry out lawful executions even if a specific drug is unavailable”, the DOJ said in an accompanying report.
Trump is a long-time supporter of the death penalty. In his first term, he ended a 20-year moratorium on executions committed by the federal government. Thirteen death row inmates were executed during that term.
On his first day back in office in January 2025, he signed an executive order directing the death penalty to be pursued again “for all crimes of a severity demanding its use”, as well as in cases in which an illegal immigrant kills a law enforcement officer.
In a statement, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche argued 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”.
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin called the change “cruel, immoral, and discriminatory”.
“Expanding the federal death penalty will be a stain on our history,” he said in a statement on X.
Some states, which each have their own laws regarding the death penalty, have already turned to alternative methods.
Five states have firing squads, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
In 2024, Alabama became the first state to kill a prisoner using nitrogen gas. Four other states have since adopted the use of nitrogen in executions.
By BBC News
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