The Justice Department, under Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, has added firing squads to the list of permitted federal execution methods as the Trump administration moves to expand and speed up capital prosecutions. The federal government previously did not include firing squads in its protocols; five states currently permit them. While the policy places firing squads on the table, the administration has not said it will immediately use them, and legal challenges under the Eighth Amendment are likely.
Justice Department Adds Firing Squads As A Federal Execution Option Amid Push To Expand Death Penalty
Todd Blanche, acting attorney general, during a news conference at the Justice Department on April 21, 2026.(Graeme Sloan / Bloomberg via Getty Image)
The Justice Department under President Donald Trump has added firing squads to the list of permitted federal execution methods, a move announced by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as the administration seeks to accelerate and expand capital-punishment prosecutions.
What Changed
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued the policy change, which places the firing squad on the table as a lawful option for federal executions. The federal government had not previously included the firing squad in its execution protocols, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Context and Scope
During President Joe Biden's term, the administration took steps to limit federal executions, including a policy action that converted the sentences of 37 people on federal death row to life imprisonment. The Trump administration has pledged to reverse that course and has authorized seeking death sentences in 44 federal cases.
Officials emphasize that the new policy does not mean the Justice Department will immediately carry out executions by firing squad. Rather, it formally permits the option as part of a streamlined process the administration says will speed up capital cases.
Legal and Historical Implications
The policy is likely to prompt litigation, including potential challenges under the Eighth Amendment. Whether courts will permit or block use of firing squads remains uncertain.
"Over time, we’ve executed people by a number of different methods in this country... And every time, as we evolve out of one old method and into a new one, we tell ourselves that the new one is a more humane way of doing it... And then, eventually, to use a legal term, our evolving standards of decency grow us out of our latest method of killing people and into a new one." — Rachel Maddow, 2014
The quote highlights a recurring pattern: hangings, firing squads, the electric chair and lethal injection were each promoted in their eras as improvements over previous methods. The current change signals a willingness by the Trump administration to revive an older method as it moves to broaden and accelerate federal capital prosecutions.
Where Firing Squads Are Allowed Today
At the state level, five states currently authorize executions by firing squad: Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah.
Time will tell whether the option will be used, how often, and what legal hurdles it will face. For now, the change represents a significant policy shift in the federal approach to capital punishment.
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