H.R. 8940

Summary

H.R. 8940, the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act, was introduced in the House on May 20, 2026 by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D) with 30 co-sponsors. It was referred to Judiciary, and last saw action on May 20, 2026: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Record

Text

H.R. 8940 has 30 co-sponsors.

119 HR 8940 IH: Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2026-05-20
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  H. R. 8940  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   May 20, 2026   Ms. Pressley  (for herself,  Ms. Brown ,  Mr. Carter of Louisiana ,  Mr. Cleaver ,  Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania ,  Ms. DeGette ,  Mr. Frost ,  Mr. Garcia of California ,  Mr. Jackson of Illinois ,  Mr. Johnson of Georgia ,  Ms. Kelly of Illinois ,  Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania ,  Ms. Mejia ,  Mr. Mullin ,  Ms. Norton ,  Mrs. Ramirez ,  Ms. Schakowsky ,  Ms. Simon ,  Ms. Tlaib ,  Ms. Wilson of Florida ,  Mr. Pallone , and  Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on the Judiciary    A BILL
To prohibit the imposition of the death penalty for any violation of Federal law, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act  .
2.
Prohibition on imposition of death sentence
(a)
In General
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person may be sentenced to death or put to death on or after the date of enactment of this Act for any violation of Federal law.
(b)
Persons Sentenced Before Date of Enactment
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person sentenced to death before the date of enactment of this Act for any violation of Federal law shall be resentenced.

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

To prohibit the imposition of the death penalty for any violation of Federal law, and for other purposes.

Sponsors

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D) sponsors H.R. 8940, and 30 members have co-sponsored it, 21 of them from the day it was introduced.

Ayanna Pressley

Rep. · D–MA-7 · Sponsor

Introduced May 20, 2026

Eleanor Norton

Rep. · D–DC-0 · Co-sponsor

Joined May 20, 2026 · Original

Shontel Brown

Rep. · D–OH-11 · Co-sponsor

Joined May 20, 2026 · Original

Troy Carter

Rep. · D–LA-2 · Co-sponsor

Joined May 20, 2026 · Original

Emanuel Cleaver

Rep. · D–MO-5 · Co-sponsor

Joined May 20, 2026 · Original

Madeleine Dean

Rep. · D–PA-4 · Co-sponsor

Joined May 20, 2026 · Original

Diana DeGette

Rep. · D–CO-1 · Co-sponsor

Joined May 20, 2026 · Original

Dwight Evans

Rep. · D–PA-3 · Co-sponsor

Joined May 20, 2026 · Original

Maxwell Frost

Rep. · D–FL-10 · Co-sponsor

Joined May 20, 2026 · Original

Robert Garcia

Rep. · D–CA-42 · Co-sponsor

Joined May 20, 2026 · Original

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Committees

H.R. 8940 went before 1 committee: Judiciary.

Judiciary

Judiciary

Referred To · May 20, 2026 · 2,181 Bills

Actions

H.R. 8940 has taken 2 actions since May 20, 2026.

Votes

H.R. 8940 has not gone to a roll call.

Related bills

5 bills are related to H.R. 8940.

HR 262Federal Death Penalty Prohibition ActMar 4, 2021 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. · Cross-Congress related billHR 4633Federal Death Penalty Prohibition ActJul 13, 2023 · Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · Cross-Congress related billS 2299Federal Death Penalty Prohibition ActJul 13, 2023 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. · Cross-Congress related billS 4608Federal Death Penalty Prohibition ActMay 20, 2026 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (Sponsor introductor… · Identical billS 582Federal Death Penalty Prohibition ActMar 3, 2021 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S1030) · Cross-Congress related bill

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Titles

H.R. 8940 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.

• Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act — Display Title
• Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
• To prohibit the imposition of the death penalty for any violation of Federal law, and for other purposes. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

2 clients hired 1 firm and 3 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 8940 in 2 quarterly filings, 2025. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Natural Resources.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 8940 under Crime and Law Enforcement, one of its 31 policy areas.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 8940’s is Crime and Law Enforcement.

Constitutional authority

The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 8940, as entered in the Congressional Record.

[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 20, 2026)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Ms. PRESSLEY:H.R. 8940.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article 1 Section 8 Clause 18[Page H3670]

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com