Federal Government Reintroduces Firing Squad as Execution Method

Fri Apr 24 2026 20:57:47 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

The Justice Department has announced the reauthorization of firing squads and single-drug lethal injections, marking a shift back to capital punishment under the Trump administration.

In a significant policy shift, the U.S. Justice Department has approved firing squads as a permissible method of execution while reauthorizing single-drug lethal injections of pentobarbital. This change comes as the Trump administration seeks to expedite federal executions, reversing the moratorium that was in place under the Biden administration. The announcement has reignited the ongoing debate over capital punishment methods in the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is set to reinstate firing squads as a permitted method of execution as the Trump administration aims "to ramp up and expedite" capital punishment cases, officials revealed on Friday.

Alongside the firing squad, the Justice Department will also allow the use of single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital, a method employed during the Trump administration that resulted in 13 executions, more than any president in modern history. The Biden administration had previously removed pentobarbital due to concerns about its potential to cause unnecessary pain and suffering.

This announcement aligns with a larger initiative to intensify federal executions following a period of moratorium during Biden's term when 37 death sentences were commuted to life in prison. Currently, only three defendants remain on federal death row while the Trump administration has authorized the pursuit of death sentences for 44.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated, “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.” He affirmed that under President Trump's leadership, the Department of Justice will prioritize law enforcement and justice for victims.

The inclusion of firing squads is unprecedented at the federal level; however, five states — Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah — already employ this method of execution.

The pentobarbital protocol was first introduced by Bill Barr during Trump’s initial term, to replace a controversial three-drug mix utilized in the 2000s. The Biden-era Attorney General Merrick Garland withdrew the policy, citing significant concerns regarding unintentional suffering associated with pentobarbital.

Despite critiques of the Biden administration's findings on lethal injections, a Trump administration report asserts that prior findings failed to consider the evidence suggesting pentobarbital effectively induces unconsciousness, preventing pain.

Among those currently on federal death row are notable figures such as Dylann Roof, responsible for the tragic 2015 slaying of nine Black church members in Charleston, South Carolina; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted for the Boston Marathon bombing; and Robert Bowers, who committed the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history in 2018 at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.