What did DOJ do to bring back firing squads?

The Justice Department is reinstating execution protocols that it had used during the first Trump administration, including the option of firing squads and expanded lethal-method procedures for federal inmates.

Coverage indicates DOJ directed the Bureau of Prisons to strengthen federal death-penalty protocols. The changes include readopting firing squads as a method of execution and incorporating pentobarbital injections into the updated protocol set. The aim is to ensure executions can proceed under federal rules, with procedures designed to broaden the available mechanisms.

This matters because lethal injection execution protocols have faced legal and practical challenges for years, including disputes over drug availability and execution procedures. By restoring multiple execution methods, DOJ is seeking greater operational flexibility and reduced risk that a single method becomes unusable.

The reports also frame the decision as part of broader actions to reaffirm federal death-penalty authority, rather than a one-off operational adjustment.

No details were provided in the stories about how courts will respond or which specific cases—if any—will be affected first. The key point from the coverage is that DOJ has issued operational instructions to prisons to “expand” protocols to include both pentobarbital-based approaches and firing squads.

In the political context, the decision is likely to intensify scrutiny from civil liberties advocates and legal opponents who have argued that federal executions should not move forward under any expanded method. At the same time, supporters of the federal death penalty view the change as a necessary step to prevent delays and ensure sentences can be carried out.

Overall, DOJ’s move signals a shift from past reliance on narrower execution options to a more diversified federal execution framework.