Justice Department Authorizes Firing Squads for Federal Executions as Trump Administration Moves to Ramp Up Capital Punishment
Why It Matters
The Trump administration’s move to authorize firing squads as a federal execution method has direct relevance to Idaho, one of only five states in the country that currently permits the practice. The policy shift signals a broader federal effort to resume and accelerate capital punishment after years of delays under the Biden administration.
For Idaho residents, the announcement comes as the state has been preparing its own firing squad execution protocols. The federal government’s formal adoption of the method adds institutional weight to what has been a state-level debate about capital punishment and how it is carried out.
What Happened
The Department of Justice announced Friday that it will adopt firing squads as a permitted method of federal execution, making it the first time in the agency’s history that the method has been formally included in its execution protocols, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the change as part of a wider effort to reinstate and expedite federal capital punishment cases. The DOJ also reauthorized the use of single-drug lethal injections using pentobarbital — the same protocol used to carry out 13 federal executions during President Trump’s first term, more than under any president in modern history.
The Biden administration had previously removed pentobarbital from the federal protocol, citing concerns about potential unnecessary pain and suffering. The Trump administration released a report Friday contending that the Biden administration “got the standard and the science wrong,” arguing that pentobarbital causes a subject to quickly lose consciousness, rendering them unable to experience pain.
By the Numbers
- 13 — federal executions carried out during Trump’s first term using pentobarbital, more than under any modern president
- 37 — death row sentences commuted to life in prison by Former President Biden before leaving office
- 3 — federal inmates currently remaining on death row
- 44 — defendants against whom the Trump administration has so far authorized seeking the death penalty
- 5 — U.S. states that currently permit execution by firing squad: Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah
What Officials Are Saying
“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 Friday.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Justice is once again enforcing the law and standing with victims,” Blanche added.
The announcement draws a sharp contrast with the Biden DOJ’s final-days withdrawal of the pentobarbital policy, which followed a government review that concluded significant scientific uncertainty remained about whether the drug causes unnecessary suffering.
Who Remains on Federal Death Row
With only three inmates currently on federal death row following Biden’s mass commutations, the individuals facing potential execution include some of the most high-profile convicted killers in recent American history.
Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist killings of nine Black church members at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, remains under a federal death sentence. So does Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 — the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.
The capital cases moving through the courts highlight the stakes of the administration’s push to restore and expand the federal death penalty. For broader context on how the federal courts are handling high-profile criminal cases, see our recent coverage of the Idaho Supreme Court hearing involving a man’s rape case against a priest, and the Justice Department’s move to dismiss seditious conspiracy convictions against Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members.
What’s Next
The Justice Department’s policy changes are expected to take effect as the administration works to actively pursue the 44 capital cases it has already authorized. Legal challenges are likely, as prior litigation over lethal injection protocols has historically delayed federal executions for years.
With Idaho among the states whose firing squad protocols now align with the newly adopted federal standard, the state could see increased coordination or legal scrutiny as federal and state execution frameworks continue to develop.
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