WASHINGTON, April 24. /TASS/. The United States Department of Justice has taken measures to restore the application of the federal death penalty, including resuming the lethal injection protocol and expanding the number of execution methods, including introducing the firing squad, according to a press release from the department.

The US Justice Department noted that the prior administration failed to live up to its duty to protect the American people as it "declined to seek the death penalty in many horrific cases, <...> including cases involving child rapists and murderers, racially motivated mass shooters, and gangsters and drug dealers who murdered law enforcement officers, government witnesses, and informants." "Under the leadership of President Trump and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Justice Department is committed to correcting these failures and restoring the lawful administration of the death penalty," the press release reads.

As such, the department lifted the indefinite moratorium "on federal executions [introduced under Attorney General Merrick Garland] and has authorized seeking death sentences against 44 defendants."

Furthermore, a decision was made "to reinstate the execution protocol adopted during the first Trump Administration, which relies on pentobarbital as the lethal agent," as well as "to expand the execution protocol to include additional manners of execution such as the firing squad" and "to streamline federal habeas review of capital cases" to expedite their handling. In the coming weeks, the Justice Department also plans to "publish a proposed rule prohibiting capital inmates from submitting clemency petitions" until all judicial proceedings are completed.