The Department of Justice announced Friday it is moving to “strengthen” the federal death penalty, including by bringing back firing squads.
The DOJ in a press release said it is “readopting the lethal injection protocol utilized during the first Trump Administration, expanding the protocol to include additional manners of execution such as the firing squad, and streamlining internal processes to expedite death penalty cases.” The Department added that these changes “are critical to deterring the most barbaric crimes, delivering justice for victims, and providing long-overdue closure to surviving loved ones.”
“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,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement on Friday.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Justice is once again enforcing the law and standing with victims,” he continued.
The DOJ also directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to examine relocating or expanding federal death row or constructing an additional execution facility to permit additional manners of execution. It is also aiming to “streamline the process” for seeking death sentences, as well as ensuring appropriate consultation with victims’ families.
During his first term from 2017 to 2021, President Donald Trump resumed federal executions after a nearly 20-year pause, NBC News reported on Friday. Five U.S. states—Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah—currently permit the use of firing squads under certain conditions, The Associated Press reported in March 2025.
In March, a man in South Carolina convicted of a double murder became the fourth person executed by firing squad since the 1970s, according to CNN.
Additionally, Trump issued an executive order in January 2025 seeking to restore the death penalty and protect public safety. The president claimed in the order that the death penalty “is an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens.”
The Justice Department is bringing back the firing squad as a manner of execution in federal death penalty cases. https://t.co/syZGzbyoLD pic.twitter.com/zQdM9tyig3
— CNN (@CNN) April 24, 2026
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