President Donald Trump on Jan. 20 signed an executive order that directs the U.S. attorney general to help states obtain drugs to carry out executions and seek the death penalty in appropriate cases.
Trump’s order states in part that it is the federal government’s policy “to ensure that the laws that authorize capital punishment are respected and faithfully implemented, and to counteract the politicians and judges who subvert the law by obstructing and preventing the execution of capital sentences.” It directs the attorney general to pursue the death penalty “for all crimes of a severity demanding its use.”
