The Trump administration has authorized firing squads and lethal injection to revive the federal death penalty, following President Trump's executive order on his first day back in office. During his first presidency, 13 people were executed in the federal prison system, marking a significant policy shift from recent administrations.

This move reverses actions taken during the Biden administration, where Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a moratorium on federal executions and President Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 of 40 federal death row inmates. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche criticized those decisions as having "inflicted untold damage on victims of crime."

The Justice Department has reauthorized pentobarbital for executions and will explore additional methods including electrocution and lethal gas. The administration is simultaneously working to shorten the appeals process and limit clemency options for death row inmates, aiming to expedite executions in the federal system through regulatory changes to legal procedures.