Trump often called for expanding the federal death penalty — including for those who kill police officers, those convicted of drug and human trafficking, and migrants who kill U.S. citizens.

Joe Biden believes the death penalty "must stop" at the federal level, except for those guilty of terrorism and mass murder motivated by hate, the White House said.

Opponents of capital punishment had urged the president to commute death row sentences before Donald Trump — who promised to restart federal executions — takes office.