Bondi Directs DOJ to Challenge Biden’s Death Row Commutations
Before his term ended, former President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of multiple individuals on death row. Now, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is pushing to overturn those actions, instructing state officials to seek the death penalty once again for the affected inmates.
In a letter addressed to Department of Justice (DOJ) employees, Bondi criticized Biden’s commutations, stating they had “undermined our justice system and subverted the rule of law.”
“The commutations also robbed the victims’ families of the justice promised — and fought hard to achieve — by the Department of Justice,” Bondi emphasized. “The Department of Justice is directed to immediately commence the following actions to achieve justice for the victims’ families of the 37 commuted murderers.”
As reported by Fox News, Bondi called for measures to allow victims’ families to publicly share how Biden’s decision impacted them, describing this as an “important step” toward accountability and rebuilding trust.
She further stated that U.S. attorneys’ offices would be encouraged to use state law instead of federal law to pursue new death penalty cases against those whose sentences were reduced. This action, she noted, would take place “where appropriate and legally permissible” and “after consultation with the families of the victims and other interested parties.”
“The Capital Case Section shall assist the United States Attorney’s Offices in implementing this directive,” Bondi wrote.
Additionally, she directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to ensure that the conditions of confinement for these 37 individuals align with the security risks they pose due to “their egregious crimes, criminal histories, and all other relevant considerations.”
In December, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates, changing their punishment to life imprisonment without parole. However, three high-profile mass murderers remained on death row: Dylann Roof, responsible for the Charleston church shooting; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber; and Robert Bowers, who carried out the Tree of Life Synagogue attack in 2018.
Bondi recently made headlines when the Justice Department released a letter declaring that several restrictions on the removal of administrative law judges were unconstitutional. The ruling aligns with growing concerns within the Trump administration over legal obstacles to its executive actions.
Acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris sent a letter to President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley (R-IA), stating that the Justice Department “has concluded that the multiple layers of removal restrictions for administrative law judges” are in violation of the U.S. Constitution, as reported by the Western Journal.
As a result, the administration “will no longer defend” these restrictions in legal battles.
Harris referenced a 2010 Supreme Court decision, which ruled that “multilayer protection from removal” for executive officers contradicts the authority vested in the president under Article II of the Constitution.
The DOJ further contended that federal laws restricting the dismissal of administrative law judges to cases of “good cause” infringe upon Article II, as they limit “the President’s ability to remove principal executive officers, who are in turn restricted in their ability to remove inferior executive officers.”
According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, administrative law judges oversee regulations in various sectors, including banking, antitrust, immigration, and interstate commerce. Unlike Article III federal judges, who serve in courts recognized by the Constitution, these judges operate within federal agencies.
Recent Supreme Court rulings have repeatedly determined that federal agencies lack the sweeping regulatory power they have long asserted. Reuters noted that one such ruling deemed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s use of in-house administrative law judges for enforcement actions unconstitutional.
Chad Mizelle, chief of staff for Attorney General Pam Bondi, shared the letter on X and told The New York Times that the administration is committed to challenging “unelected and constitutionally unaccountable” administrative law judges.
“In accordance with Supreme Court precedent, the department is restoring constitutional accountability so that executive branch officials answer to the president and to the people,” he said.
Mizelle added that administrative law judges have “exercised immense power for far too long.”