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To amend section 3596 of title 18, United States Code, with respect to implementation of a sentence of death.
Summary
This bill amends federal law to specify that death sentences can be carried out using lethal injection or hanging according to Federal law rather than only state law procedures. The United States Marshals Service must develop written protocols for implementing these execution methods within 180 days of enactment, working with the Attorney General and qualified medical and correctional officials. The Attorney General must also update federal regulations within 180 days to align with the new execution methods authorized by this bill. The bill defines "qualified medical official" as a licensed medical professional with expertise in the physiological effects of execution methods, and "qualified correctional official" as a prison employee or officer with relevant execution procedure experience. These changes establish a Federal procedure for capital punishment separate from state procedures.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Burchett, Tim [R-TN-2] (R-TN)
1 cosponsor
- Rep. Fuller, Clay [R-GA-14] (R-GA)
Actions (2)
- May 20, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- May 20, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 20, 2026
Mr. Burchett introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend section 3596 of title 18, United States Code, with respect to implementation of a sentence of death.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Detention Reform and Offender Penalties Act of 2026” or the “DROP Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION OF A SENTENCE OF DEATH.
Section 3596 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by striking “prescribed by the law of the State” and inserting “prescribed by Federal law or by the law of the State”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(d) Method of Execution.—A sentence of death may be carried out upon a person using lethal injection or hanging.
“(e) Written Protocol.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the United States Marshals Service, in consultation with the Attorney General and qualified medical officials and qualified correctional officials, shall establish written protocols with respect to a method of execution permissible under subsection (d).
“(f) Regulations.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Attorney General shall take such steps as necessary to revise section 26.3 of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations in accordance with this section.
“(g) Definitions.—In this section:
“(1) Qualified correctional official.—The term ‘qualified correctional official’ means an employee or officer of a Federal or State correctional institution with relevant experience in custodial or execution procedures.
“(2) Qualified medical official.—The term ‘qualified medical official’ means a medical professional licensed to practice under applicable State law with relevant medical expertise regarding the physiological effects of a method of execution.”. <all>
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