President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will direct the Department of Justice to “vigorously pursue the death penalty” after President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the death sentences of 37 federal inmates to life in prison.

With just weeks left in office, US President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of 37 of 40 federal death row inmates - potentially thwarting President-elect Donald Trump's plans to expand federal executions during his upcoming administration.

The commutations affected 37 individuals on federal death row. Their sentences were reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Trump took aim Tuesday at Biden’s decision to commute the sentences of nearly all federal death row prisoners, adding to the backlash in an unprecedented move that has brought both criticism and praise.