Within Donald Trump’s plans for his presidency is a explicit directive to execute every remaining person on the federal death row – and to dramatically expand use of the death penalty, HuffPost reports. Such a move would be a continuation of the final six months of Trump’s presidency, when his administration carried out an unprecedented execution spree, killing 13 people on federal death row and ending a 17-year de facto federal execution moratorium. It marked the greatest number of federal executions in a single year since 1896. That focus ended shortly after Joe Biden entered the White House, as the Justice Department formally reinstated the federal execution moratorium and announced a sweeping policy review. Biden had run for office pledging to end the federal death penalty, though there has been little progress toward that larger goal.
This time, it seems that Trump’s execution plans could be accelerated. Last year, a coalition effort by conservative groups known as Project 2025 released an 887-page document that lays out policy goals and recommendations for each part of the federal government. Buried on page 554 is a directive to execute every remaining federal death row prisoner — and to persuade the Supreme Court to expand the types of crimes that can be punished with death sentences, to non-homicide crimes like rape. Gene Hamilton, the author of the transition playbook’s Department of Justice chapter – who was an official under Trump in the DOJ and Department of Homeland Security - wrote that the next conservative administration should “do everything possible to obtain finality” for every prisoner on federal death row, which currently includes 40 people. “It should also pursue the death penalty for applicable crimes—particularly heinous crimes involving violence and sexual abuse of children—until Congress says otherwise through legislation,” Hamilton wrote.
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