When someone is accused of murder in the nation’s capital, President Donald Trump wants federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, which is banned there.
Aug. 26 When someone is accused of murder in the nation’s capital, President Donald Trump wants federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, which is banned there.
«If somebody kills somebody, it’s the death penalty», Trump told his Cabinet during a Tuesday meeting.
Washington has not imposed the death penalty since 1957, and the Supreme Court nullified the capital’s death penalty in 1972, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The District of Columbia Council repealed the death penalty in 1981, and district residents in 1992 also voted against a ballot referendum that would have reinstated the death penalty.
The high-profile shooting deaths of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington led to federal prosecutors seeking the death penalty for accused murderer Elias Gonzalez, whose case is in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and not a local court.
Trump raised the matter of the death penalty in the nation’s capital while meeting with his Cabinet late Tuesday morning and into the afternoon.
National debt forecast lowered by $4 trillion
The president’s tariffs and economic policies have lowered the projected 10-year federal debt following the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
The federal debt is projected to be $4 trillion lower over the next 10 years than initially announced, he said.
