Donald Trump said he will seek the death penalty for rapists and murderers.

“I will instruct the Justice Department when I takes office on January 20 to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect Americans from violent rapists, murderers and predators,” he said.

Trump’s statement on Truth Social (his owned social media) comes a day after Democratic outgoing President Joe Biden commuted 37 death sentences to life in prison. The 37 death row inmates had been convicted in federal courts.

Biden suspended executions of convicts by the federal judiciary when he took office in January 2021.

In early December more than 130 organizations, including the ACLU and Amnesty International USA, reminded the outgoing US president of the commitment he made during his 2020 campaign against the death penalty. These organizations expressed concern about a “wave of executions” after Trump’s return to the presidency.

Unlike executive orders, clemency decisions cannot be overturned by the president’s successor, though the death penalty may be pursued more aggressively in future cases.

The Trump transition team denounced Biden’s decision yesterday, calling it an abhorrent ruling that favors convicts who are “among the worst killers in the world.”

Executions of convicts by the federal judiciary are rare in the US, with most being carried out by the states.

Of the approximately 2,300 death row inmates in the US, only 40 have been sentenced by the federal judiciary before today’s announcement.

The last federal executions occurred under the Trump presidency: after a 17-year hiatus, 13 convicts were executed between 14 July 2020 and 16 January 2021, the highest number recorded during a US presidential term in 120 years.