Trump Orders Attorney General to Seek Death Penalty in Some Cases

Trump directs the attorney general to pursue the death penalty ‘for all crimes of a severity demanding its use.’

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office in Washington on Jan. 20, 2025. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

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.”

It also specifies that in murders of law enforcement officers, or capital crimes committed by illegal immigrants, the federal government shall pursue jurisdiction and seek the death penalty regardless of other factors.

Trump’s order also states the attorney general “shall take all necessary and lawful action to ensure that each state that allows capital punishment has a sufficient supply of drugs needed to carry out lethal injection” and criticizes officials and judges who oppose the death penalty.

The order was one of dozens issued by Trump in his first day of office in his second administration.

After President Joe Biden took office, the U.S. Department of Justice paused federal executions. No federal executions were carried out during Biden’s term. During Trump’s first term, the federal government carried out 13 federal executions.

Shortly before stepping down, Biden also commuted the sentences of 37 death row prisoners to life in prison, leaving just three federal prisoners subject to the death sentence.

Trump’s order calls the 37 “vile and sadistic rapists, child molesters, and murderers” and directs the attorney general to evaluate the imprisonment of each one to make sure the conditions are consistent “with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose.” The attorney general was also told to look into whether the criminals can be charged with state capital crimes, which could result in them being executed.

The order also directs the attorney general to take action to seek the overruling of Supreme Court precedent that limits the authority of state and federal officials to impose the death penalty.

James McHenry is the acting attorney general until Pam Bondi, Trump’s attorney general nominee, is confirmed by the Senate.

William Barr, the attorney general for much of Trump’s first term, changed the federal execution protocol from a three-drug mix to pentobarbital alone.

Merrick Garland, who was attorney general until Jan. 20, recently issued a withdrawal of that Department of Justice execution protocol. Garland said there was uncertainty over whether using pentobarbital as a single-drug execution method causes unnecessary pain and suffering. Garland also said in the withdrawal memorandum that the moratorium on executions remained in effect.