Trump's executive order resumes executions, after Biden dialed them back
President Trump said he intends to resume executions of federal death row prisoners and forcefully pursue new death sentences in future cases, particularly against migrants in the U.S. without legal status who commit capital crimes.
The renewed use of the death penalty, announced by executive order signed on his first day in office, comes just after former President Biden and his Department of Justice moved to restrict the federal death penalty. In the final weeks of his presidency, Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 of the 40 prisoners on death row.
Trump's order calls on the U.S. Attorney General to seek the death penalty in future cases "for all crimes of a severity demanding its use." In two circumstances – when law-enforcement officers are the victims of murder and when capital defendants are immigrants in the country without legal status – the government will seek the death penalty "regardless of other factors."
