US President Joe Biden today commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 federal inmates on death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment without parole. The announcement comes just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office on the 20th of next month.

President Biden’s move will hamper Mr. Trump’s plan to resume a rapid pace of executions. Unlike executive orders, clemency decisions cannot be reversed by a President’s successor, although the death penalty can be sought more aggressively in future cases.

Mr. Trump restarted federal executions after a nearly 20-year pause during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021. Mr Biden, who ran for President opposing the death penalty, put federal executions on hold when he took office in January 2021.

Earlier this month, President Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoned 39 more convicted of nonviolent crimes. He also issued a full and unconditional pardon of his son Hunter, after repeatedly insisting he would not do so. Hunter Biden had pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on firearms-related charges.