US Justice Department expands federal execution methods to include firing squads, electrocution, gas asphyxiation
Consensus Summary
The US Justice Department under Donald Trump’s administration announced plans to expand federal execution methods to include firing squads, electrocution, and gas asphyxiation, citing difficulties obtaining lethal injection drugs. This move reverses a 2021 moratorium imposed by the Biden administration and follows Trump’s 2026 executive order to resume capital punishment. The department is pursuing death sentences for over 40 defendants, with nine already authorized, though legal appeals could delay executions for years. Five states currently allow firing squads, and Alabama’s 2024 adoption of gas asphyxiation has influenced the federal shift. Public support for the death penalty has declined to 52%, the lowest in over 50 years, while critics argue the new methods are cruel and unconstitutional. The three remaining federal death row inmates—Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Dylann Roof, and Robert Bowers—remain ineligible for execution under current rules, and legal challenges are expected.
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Key details reported by multiple sources:
- The US Justice Department announced on April 25, 2026, it will add firing squads, electrocution, and gas asphyxiation as alternative federal execution methods due to drug shortages for lethal injections.
- Donald Trump’s administration rescinded the Biden-era moratorium on federal executions, allowing executions to resume after a 20-year gap (last federal executions occurred in 2021).
- The Justice Department is seeking the death penalty against more than 40 federal defendants, with nine already authorized for prosecution by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
- Five US states (Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah) currently allow firing squad executions, with Idaho set to adopt it as primary in July 2026.
- Alabama pioneered gas asphyxiation (nitrogen suffocation) in 2024, with Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma adopting it since.
- Public support for the death penalty in the US has declined to 52% in 2025 (Gallup), the lowest in over 50 years.
- The three remaining federal death row inmates are Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Boston Marathon bombing), Dylann Roof (Charleston church shooting), and Robert Bowers (Pittsburgh synagogue attack).
- The Justice Department’s report cites difficulties obtaining lethal injection drugs due to pharmaceutical company refusals and EU bans.
Points of Difference
Details reported by only one source:
- The 52-page report was introduced by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who argued the Biden moratorium 'undermined the federal death penalty and left victims, their families, and the nation to bear the consequences.'
- South Carolina carried out the first US firing squad execution in 15 years (2025), and a demonstration occurred ahead of Brad Sigmon’s execution.
- Lethal injection has a higher rate of botched executions, with autopsies showing prisoners experienced 'torturous drowning' before death.
- The Supreme Court has never ruled an execution method unconstitutional, though gas asphyxiation has not been challenged yet.
- Joe Biden commuted 37 of 40 federal death row sentences in 2021, leaving only three inmates eligible for execution under current rules.
- Cassandra Stubbs (ACLU) called the new methods 'widely denounced for their cruelty and unnecessary infliction of extreme pain.' Senator Dick Durbin labeled the death penalty 'barbaric and discriminatory.'
- The Justice Department plans to 'streamline internal processes to expedite death penalty cases' and 'consider a rule prohibiting capital inmates from submitting clemency petitions.'
- Trump signed an executive order in January 2026 committing to pursue federal death sentences and ensure lethal injection drug supplies.
- Executions in the US rose to their highest level in 16 years in 2025, despite declining public support.
- The Death Penalty Information Center noted the death penalty is 'increasingly unpopular' even as officials schedule executions for 'diminishing political benefits.'
- The Biden moratorium (2021) was imposed pending a 'review of the Justice Department’s policies and procedures.'
Contradictions
Conflicting information between sources:
- The ABC article states Trump executed 13 federal prisoners in his final months of the first term (2021), while the Guardian does not specify a number but confirms executions resumed after a 20-year gap.
- ABC mentions Trump’s first term executions occurred in 'final months of his first term' (2021), but the Guardian does not provide a specific year for the 20-year gap reference.
- ABC cites a 2022 photograph of South Carolina’s firing squad chair, while the Guardian does not mention this specific detail.
Source Articles
White House seeking firing squad, electrocution and gas for federal executions
The US is one of the very few Western nations that still uses the death penalty, although public support for capital punishment has gradually declined among Americans.
US justice department to allow firing squads as federal death penalty method
Trump’s DoJ says it is taking steps to ‘strengthen the federal death penalty’ in opposition to Biden-era policies The US justice department announced on Friday that it is taking steps to “strengthen the federal death penalty”, including bringing back firing squads and readopting the lethal injection protocol utilized during the first Trump administration. “Today, the Department of Justice acted to restore its solemn duty to seek, obtain, and implement lawful capital sentences – clearing the way