With just weeks left in his term, U.S. President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 of 40 federal death row inmates, potentially hampering President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to expand the federal death penalty during his incoming administration.

Biden’s move was swiftly condemned by Republicans, with some accusing the president of siding with criminals over law-abiding Americans.

Federal executions were relatively rare before Trump’s first term, and Trump has carried out a series of executions since taking office, ending a 130-year-old moratorium on executions during presidential transitions.

He has vowed to resume the practice when he returns to the White House in January, setting the stage for possible legal battles early in the administration.

Here’s what we know.

on Monday, Biden commutes sentences of 37 of 40 death row inmateschanging the sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Only three inmates face the death penalty, including convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Robert Bowles, the latter for the 2018 shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue that killed 11 people believers, injured 7 believers and was sentenced to death.

The third was Dylann Roof, who was sentenced to death in 2017 for the 2015 mass shooting at Our Lady Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina, that killed nine black parishioners Residents died.

While the move was widely praised by human rights groups such as Amnesty International, it was quickly condemned by some Republicans as well as the Trump transition team and political allies.

“These men are among the most vicious killers in the world, and Joe Biden’s abhorrent decision is a disservice to the victims, their families,” Trump Communications Director Steven Chang said in a statement. and a slap in the face from a loved one.”

He added: “President Trump stands for the rule of law, and when he returns to the White House, the rule of law will return.” Trump cannot revoke the commutation when he returns to the White House next month.

Texas Republican Chip Roy posted on X that the decision was “unconscionable” and an abuse of power “creating a miscarriage of justice.”

Another Republican, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, said, “When given a choice between law-abiding Americans and criminals, Joe Biden and the Democrats will choose the criminals every time.”

Some family members also expressed anger.

Heather Turner, whose mother was killed in a 2017 bank robbery, called the commutations a “gross abuse of power” on Facebook.

“The president never thinks about the victims,” ​​she wrote. “He and his supporters have blood on their hands.”

The commutations do not apply to some 2,200 death row inmates convicted in state courts, over which the president has no power.

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to resume federal executions and make more people eligible for the death penalty, including those convicted of child rape or drug and human trafficking cases, as well as immigrants who kill U.S. citizens or police officers.

“These are terrible, terrible, terrible people who are responsible for death, carnage and crime across this country,” Trump said in announcing his 2022 presidential candidacy.

“We will demand that all drug traffickers caught be sentenced to death for their heinous acts,” he added.

In theory, there are more than 40 federal laws that can impose the death penalty, ranging from drug-related shootings to genocide.

Nearly all of the incidents – with the exception of espionage and treason – explicitly involved the death of the victim.

However, Trump has provided no details on how he plans to fulfill his campaign promises.

Despite the lack of clarity, Trump’s vow to expand the federal death penalty has prompted strong warnings from human rights advocates.

For example, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement on December 11 that Trump’s “chilling” plans amounted to an expansion of “the killing spree he launched during the final six months of his first term as president.” .

“He has shown us that he will deliver on these promises,” the statement said.

Prisoners executed during the waning days of Trump’s first administration included Lisa Montgomery, the first person executed by the federal government since 1953, and Lezmond Mitchell Women, who are the only Native Americans on federal death row.

US media reported that Trump was unable to reverse Biden’s commutation.

Trump’s efforts to expand the death penalty to crimes not involving murder are likely to face legal challenges.

In 2008, for example, the Supreme Court ruled that people convicted of child rape could not be executed, adding that it was unclear whether the death penalty could be applied to crimes in which the victim was not killed.

Cases involving child victims are particularly vulnerable to wrongful convictions, can be “extremely emotional” and pit family members against each other, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

Any further expansion of crimes subject to the federal death penalty would require congressional action and changes to the law.

In 2024, two bills sponsored by Florida Republican and Trump ally Anna Paulina Luna sought to expand the scope of capital crimes to include possession of child pornography as well as trafficking, exploitation and Child abuse included.

Both bills failed to pass the House.

Trump is also unlikely to quickly refill the federal death row pool, as most death penalty cases take years and require lengthy appeals processes.

Although he does not have any direct authority over state executions, some experts have warned that Trump’s pro-death penalty stance could trigger more executions at the state level.

“His rhetoric can and has prompted leaders to take tough measures and attitudes on several issues, including criminal justice,” said Yasmin Cader, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union and director of the Troon Center. in the context of the legal system,” Justice and Equality told CNN.

In addition to the federal government and the US military, there are 27 states in the United States that still retain the death penalty.

A Gallup poll conducted in October found that a slim majority of Americans (53%) support the death penalty for convicted murderers, up from 50% a year ago.