DOJ Expands Federal Execution Methods to Firing Squads

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday that it will expand federal execution methods to include firing squads and reinstate the use of single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital, as part of a broader effort to resume and accelerate capital punishment under President Donald Trump's administration.

The changes, outlined in a department report and directed to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, also authorize electrocution and lethal gas as options. Officials stated that these measures address challenges in obtaining drugs for lethal injections and ensure the implementation of lawful death sentences once appeals are exhausted. The federal government had not previously adopted firing squads in its protocols, though five states—Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah—permit the method. Federal law allows executions to follow procedures prescribed by the state where the sentence is imposed, and 27 states maintain capital punishment, primarily through lethal injection.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described the actions as a restoration of the department's duties. "The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing...