US Justice Department under Trump introduces shooting as a method for carrying out federal death penalties

The Trump Justice Department announced on Friday its intention to broaden the application of the death penalty in federal capital cases, with plans to incorporate the firing squad, electrocution, and gas as alternatives to lethal injection.

This move aims to rectify the perceived shortcomings of the previous administration, which acting Attorney General Todd Blanche claimed had failed to adequately protect the American people by not pursuing the ultimate punishment against the most heinous criminals.

According to Blanche, under President Donald Trump's leadership, the Department of Justice has recommitted to upholding the law and supporting victims, marking a significant shift in approach.

During his first term, Trump ended a 17-year hiatus in federal executions in 2020, resulting in 13 executions by lethal injection during his final six months in office, a higher number than any US leader in 120 years.

Prior to leaving the White House in January 2025, President Joe Biden, a vocal opponent of the death penalty, commuted the death sentences of 37 out of 40 inmates on federal death row.

Upon taking office for his second term, Trump promptly called for an expansion of the death penalty to encompass the most egregious crimes.

The death penalty is typically administered at the state level in the United States, although the federal government also has the authority to seek execution for a limited range of crimes.

Currently, five US states have authorized the use of the firing squad for executions, but only South Carolina has utilized this method in recent years.

Nine states permit electrocution, although this method has not been employed since 2020.

Two states have recently executed inmates using nitrogen hypoxia, a method that involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate, which has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 out of 50 US states, while California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania have implemented moratoriums.

The three individuals whose death sentences were not commuted by Biden include one of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers, a gunman who killed 11 Jewish worshippers in 2018, and a white supremacist who murdered nine Black churchgoers in 2015.