President-elect Joe Biden opposes the death penalty and has said he will work to end its use, but as President Trump’s administration accelerates the pace of federal executions in the closing days of his presidency, activists and progressive lawmakers are feeling more urgency to push Biden to act immediately upon taking office.
After nearly two decades without a federal execution, the Trump administration resumed the practice earlier this year. The executions, including ones scheduled to take place just days before Biden’s inauguration, have prompted criticism of the Trump administration’s actions.
“There have never been so many executions scheduled for so late in a presidency during any transition period in the entire history of the United States,” said Robert Dunham, the head of the nonpartisan Death Penalty Information Center.
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