The Justice Department directed the Bureau of Prisons to expand federal execution protocols, including firing squads and pentobarbital injections.
The Justice Department on Friday directed the Bureau of Prisons to expand federal execution protocols to include pentobarbital injections and firing squads, a major step in the Trump administration’s effort to revive and accelerate the federal death penalty.
The directive, described in a DOJ memo obtained by Fox News, is part of a broader push to “seek, obtain, and implement lawful capital sentences” once death-sentenced prisoners have exhausted their appeals. The memo says the department is readopting the lethal injection protocol used during President Donald Trump’s first administration, adding other methods of execution and streamlining internal procedures for capital cases.
The move matters because it could reshape how the federal government carries out executions after years of sharp policy swings. The Biden administration had imposed a moratorium on federal executions, barred the use of pentobarbital and commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people then on federal death row in December 2024. The Trump administration rescinded the moratorium in 2025.
The DOJ also directed the Bureau of Prisons to examine whether to expand federal death row and build additional execution facilities, according to the memo. Separately, the department plans to consider a rule intended to help states streamline federal habeas review in capital cases. DOJ says that change, if adopted, could shorten the time between conviction and execution in state death-penalty cases by years.
“Today, the Department of Justice acted to restore its solemn duty to seek, obtain, and implement lawful capital sentences — clearing the way for the Department to carry out executions once death-sentenced inmates have exhausted their appeals,” the memo says.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche criticized the Biden administration in the memo, saying it had failed to pursue and carry out capital punishment against people convicted of the most serious crimes. The memo also frames the new steps as necessary to deter violent crimes, deliver justice for victims and provide closure to surviving family members.
The federal government has never executed anyone by firing squad, though some states still allow the method. South Carolina carried out three firing squad executions in 2025, according to the report.
Pentobarbital, a central nervous system suppressant, has been used by many states as an alternative to the traditional three-drug lethal injection process. The Biden administration had barred its use, arguing it caused unnecessary pain and suffering. The Justice Department now says the drug’s use is consistent with the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The next steps are expected to come through the Bureau of Prisons’ implementation of the revised protocols and any DOJ rulemaking on capital-case review. The timing of any future federal execution under the expanded procedures remains unclear from the memo.
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