President Trump signed a sweeping execution order Monday on the death penalty that directs the attorney general to "take all necessary and lawful action" to ensure that states have enough lethal injection drugs to carry out executions, the AP reports. Trump's order, coming just hours after he returned to the White House, compels the Justice Department to not only seek the death penalty in appropriate federal cases but also to help preserve capital punishment in states that have struggled to maintain adequate supplies of lethal injection drugs. Trump had been expected to restart federal executions, which have been on hold since a moratorium was imposed by former Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2021. Only three defendants remain on federal death row after President Biden recently converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison.
Trump directed the attorney general to pursue federal jurisdiction and seek the death penalty "regardless of other factors" when the case involves the killing of a law enforcement officer or capital crimes "committed by an alien illegally present in this country." He's also instructing the attorney general to seek to overrule Supreme Court precedents that "limit the authority of State and Federal governments to impose capital punishment." Trump's administration carried out 13 federal executions during his first term, more than under any president in modern history, and the president has spoken frequently of expanding executions.
(More
President Trump stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
