House panel demands information on federal execution drug

By MICHAEL BALSAMO
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Oversight Committee is demanding the Justice Department provide answers about whether Biden administration officials plan to procure the drug used in federal executions despite an ongoing moratorium on capital punishment. The demand was made late Wednesday in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland by Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin and Ayanna Pressley. The demand comes months after Garland halted federal executions following an unprecedented run in the waning months of the Trump administration and ordered a review of the procedures and policies surrounding the practice. Raskin and Pressley want the Justice Department to provide a briefing to the committee’s staff by Dec. 22. The Justice Department hasn’t commented.