WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden on Monday (Dec 23) commuted the sentences for 37 out of 40 federal inmates on death row, converting them to life in prison without parole, before he hands power to President-elect Donald Trump on Jan 20.

Biden's move will frustrate Trump's plan to expand 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.

Trump restarted federal executions during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021 after a nearly 20-year pause.

Biden, who ran for president opposing the death penalty, put federal executions on hold when he took office in January 2021.

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