WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump announced on Dec. 24 that he will direct the Justice Department to “vigorously pursue” the death penalty for violent offenders, including rapists and murderers, once he takes office on Jan. 20.
Trump’s statement, posted on his Truth Social account, came in response to President Joe Biden’s Dec. 23 decision to commute the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates, converting them to life imprisonment without parole.
“As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters,” Trump declared.
During his first term from 2017 to 2021, Trump ended a nearly 20-year moratorium on federal executions, overseeing 13 executions in the final months of his presidency. Biden, who campaigned on opposing capital punishment, halted federal executions upon taking office in January 2021.
Trump’s transition team strongly criticized Biden’s decision, calling it “abhorrent” and claiming it showed leniency toward convicts who are “among the worst killers in the world.”
While presidential clemency decisions are irreversible, a future administration can prioritize seeking the death penalty in ongoing and new federal cases.