Justice Department announces it’s readopting the firing squad as a means of execution

The Department of Justice on Friday directed the Bureau of Prisons to expand death penalty protocols to include pentobarbital injections and firing squads as part of broader actions to strengthen the federal death penalty. 

“Today, the Department of Justice acted to restore its solemn duty to seek, obtain, and implement lawful capital sentences — clearing the way for the Department to carry out executions once death-sentenced inmates have exhausted their appeals,” the DOJ memo obtained by Fox News read.

“Among the actions taken are 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 memo read.

In addition to recommending the new methods of execution, the DOJ is also directing BOP to look into expanding the federal death row and constructing additional execution facilities.

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The DOJ also plans to consider a rule that will help states to streamline federal habeas review of capital cases which, if adopted, the DOJ says will reduce the period between conviction and execution in state capital cases by years. Death row inmates can often wait decades after receiving their sentence to face execution.

On President Donald Trump’s first day of his second term, he issued an executive order “to ensure that the laws that authorize capital punishment are respected and faithfully implemented.” 

In 2025 the Trump administration rescinded a moratorium on federal executions instituted by former President Joe Biden’s DOJ. 

Biden also commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 death row inmates in December 2024, a move widely condemned by Republicans as dangerous but praised by Democrats as an act of justice and mercy.

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The DOJ’s Friday memo slammed the Biden administration. “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 wrote.

The federal government has never executed a person by firing squad, though some states still use firing squads to execute death row inmates at the state level. South Carolina carried out three firing squad executions in 2025. 

Pentobarbital is a central nervous system suppressant that many states use as a fallback to the standard three-drug cocktail for lethal injections. The Biden administration barred its use, arguing that it caused “unnecessary pain and suffering.” The DOJ, however, claimed its use is in line with the 8th amendment, which states that cruel and unusual punishment is unconstitutional. 

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“These steps are critical to deterring the most barbaric crimes, delivering justice for victims, and providing long-overdue closure to surviving loved ones,” the DOJ memo read.