Trump Signs Order Restoring Death Penalty in Washington D.C., AG Seeks Nationwide Expansion

Rep. Nancy Mace introduced legislation Aug. 13 to restore the death penalty in Washington, D.C., but President Donald Trump did not sign a new death-penalty proclamation on Aug. 25, according to available government records. Mace’s Restoring the Death Penalty in DC Act, H.R. 10098, was referred to the House Oversight and Judiciary committees and remains in committee. The bill would authorize capital punishment for specified offenses, including first-degree murder, certain killings of law-enforcement or public-safety employees, terrorism, first-degree child sexual abuse, and some drug-distribution cases involving minors. It would establish aggravating and mitigating factors and a separate sentencing hearing, with electrocution as the default execution method and alternatives. Trump previously issued a September 2025 memorandum directing federal prosecutors to seek death sentences in appropriate D.C. cases under existing federal law. DOJ expanded federal execution procedures in April 2026. The supplied Aug. 25 account conflates these developments and is materially misleading.