DOJ Pushes to Expand Federal Death Penalty and Bring Back Firing Squad Executions

The Department of Justice has unveiled a sweeping plan to revive and expand the federal death penalty in ways not seen in decades. Released on April 24, 2026, the DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy report titled Restoring and Strengthening the Federal Death Penalty demands that the Federal Bureau of Prisons immediately reinstate the use of pentobarbital for lethal injections and expand execution methods to include firing squads. This aggressive push follows a 2021 executive order by President Donald Trump and was directed by former Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

The report attacks the Biden administration’s approach, which included a moratorium on federal executions and commutations of 37 death sentences in 2024, leaving only three men on federal death row today. Bondi lifted the moratorium in early 2025 and has since instructed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in a wide range of cases, many of which previous administrations would not have considered eligible for capital punishment.

One of the most controversial aspects of the report is its call to bring back the firing squad as a method of execution, citing an 1878 Supreme Court decision, Wilkerson v. Utah, to argue its constitutionality. But this 19th-century precedent ignores the modern “evolving standards of decency” legal framework that has governed death penalty cases since 1958. The Supreme Court has never ruled on firing squads under today’s legal standards, raising serious constitutional questions.

The DOJ frames the firing squad as a fallback option due to ongoing legal challenges against lethal injection protocols and a public campaign against execution drug suppliers. The report also suggests electrocution and lethal gas as alternatives. Notably, only five states currently authorize firing squads, and they make up less than 1% of all executions in the modern death penalty era.

Beyond execution methods, the DOJ plans to propose rules that would block death row inmates from filing clemency petitions until all appeals and collateral challenges are exhausted. Critics warn this could shut down a vital avenue for correcting wrongful or unjust sentences. Additionally, the DOJ seeks to streamline federal habeas corpus reviews and change jury rules to allow new juries in penalty phases if the original jury fails to unanimously recommend death — a significant departure from current law that requires a lesser sentence in such cases.

Perhaps most alarmingly, the report proposes amending federal law to give the Attorney General authority to dictate execution methods regardless of state law. Currently, federal executions must follow the execution protocols of the state where the sentence was imposed. This change would centralize power in the Attorney General’s hands and could override state restrictions on execution methods.

This DOJ report signals a stark return to the Trump-era’s hardline, punitive approach to capital punishment, emphasizing speed and expansion over fairness, transparency, and evolving legal standards. It is a clear example of authoritarian overreach, pushing policies that dismantle protections and civil rights under the guise of “restoring public safety.” The move demands close scrutiny and resistance from advocates of justice and democracy.