Justice Department Reinstates Firing Squads And Pentobarbital For Federal Executions
The Justice Department announced on April 24, 2025, that it will reinstate firing squads and the drug pentobarbital as authorized methods for federal executions nationwide.
DOJ officials said the agency will reimplement the single-drug pentobarbital protocol used in the first Trump administration and formally add firing squads as an alternative method. The announcement said the changes aim to strengthen the federal death penalty and to speed cases. It said pentobarbital does not violate the Eighth Amendment and echoed President Trump's recent executive order to pursue capital punishment.
The episode traces back to a long legal and drug-supply struggle that halted federal executions in 2003. In July 2019, Attorney General William Barr announced the government would resume executions using a single pentobarbital dose, and 13 inmates were executed between July 2020 and January 2021. In November 2020 the Justice Department amended regulations to authorize firing squads, electrocution, and poisonous gas as backups if drugs became unavailable. Attorney General Merrick Garland imposed a moratorium in July 2021, pausing federal executions pending a protocol review. President Biden commuted 37 federal death sentences in December 2024, and the Justice Department withdrew the pentobarbital protocol on January 16, 2025, keeping the moratorium in place. Days after his inauguration on January 20, 2025, President Trump ordered the Justice Department to restore and vigorously pursue the death penalty.
Early reports presented this step as a technical protocol update, but later coverage framed it as a broader policy reversal tied to the Trump administration's priorities. Fox News ran a straightforward announcement headline, the Wall Street Journal emphasized that this was a Trump administration policy choice, and CBS highlighted DOJ language about strengthening and streamlining death-penalty cases.
Several states have authorized firing squads after drugmakers refused to supply lethal injection drugs, leaving federal and state systems searching for alternatives. FBI figures show roughly 60 law-enforcement officers were feloniously killed in 2023, a statistic often cited in debates over tougher penalties. Social media reactions ranged from praise for "strengthening" the death penalty to sharp criticism that reinstating firing squads may amount to cruel and unusual punishment.
📊 Relevant Data
Several U.S. states have authorized the firing squad as an execution method due to difficulties in obtaining lethal injection drugs, as pharmaceutical companies have refused to supply them for capital punishment.
Why Executions by Firing Squad May Be Coming Back in the US — WTTW News
According to FBI data, 60 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the United States in 2023, 61 in 2022, and 73 in 2021.
Statistics on Law Enforcement Officer Deaths in the Line of Duty from January through August 2024 — FBI Law Enforcement
During the first Trump administration, the federal government executed 13 individuals between July 2020 and January 2021, resuming federal executions after a 17-year hiatus.
In Trump's final days, a rush of federal executions — BBC News
📌 Key Facts
- On April 24, 2026, the Justice Department announced it will reinstate the pentobarbital lethal-injection protocol used during the first Trump administration and formally authorize firing squads as a federal execution method.
- The DOJ framed the changes as intended to strengthen the federal death penalty and to streamline internal processes to expedite death-penalty cases.
- A DOJ report criticized the Biden Justice Department for steps it said 'weaken, delay and dismantle the death penalty' and asserted that use of pentobarbital does not violate the Eighth Amendment.
- The policy move aligns with former President Trump’s executive order directing pursuit of the death penalty for 'all crimes of a severity demanding its use,' specifically citing murders of law enforcement officers and certain capital crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
- Wall Street Journal coverage and DOJ messaging emphasize this is a Trump-administration policy choice rather than a purely technical or procedural DOJ adjustment.
📰 Source Timeline (3)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Wall Street Journal framing confirms that the Trump administration has formally added firing squads as an authorized federal execution method, aligning with DOJ’s April 24 announcement.
- The article headline reinforces that this is a Trump administration policy choice rather than a purely technical DOJ adjustment.
- DOJ says it is reimplementing the lethal injection protocol used during the first Trump administration and expanding it to include firing squads as an execution method.
- The announcement is explicitly framed as part of efforts to "strengthen" the federal death penalty and to "streamline internal processes to expedite death penalty cases."
- DOJ report criticizes the Biden Justice Department for steps that allegedly "weaken, delay and dismantle the death penalty" and asserts that use of pentobarbital does not violate the Eighth Amendment.
- The article reiterates Trump’s executive order directing pursuit of the death penalty for "all crimes of a severity demanding its use" and specifically for murders of law enforcement officers and capital crimes committed by illegal immigrants.