Republicans hammer Biden for federal death row reprieves ahead of leaving office

House Majority whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital in a statement, "Unfortunately, this is not surprising given that the Biden-Harris administration has let murderers and rapists come in through our southern border for the last four years. Joe Biden's soft-on-crime record is exactly why voters fired him and reelected President Trump on November 5."

"Violent murderers should not have their sentences commuted," Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said on X. "We must end soft-on-crime policies."

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., labeled the move "a slap in the face to the families who have suffered immeasurably at the hands of these animals."

While Republicans made their displeasure known, Biden's announcement was celebrated by some Democrats. 

"The President's decision today provides accountability with a term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and ensures that these individuals never again pose a threat to public safety, but without implicating the myriad issues associated with capital punishment. I have long advocated for the abolition of the federal death penalty and commend President Biden for this act of justice and mercy and for his leadership," said Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in a statement. 

In her own statement, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said, "This is a historic day in America. We thank President Biden for this extraordinary act to spare the 37 individuals facing the death penalty, a discriminatory and fundamentally inhumane punishment. This is a powerful use of executive action to save lives and deliver justice." 

She had previously encouraged the administration to take such action. 

Biden's death penalty commutations came after he already rolled out commutations for roughly 1,500 people's sentences in the largest single-day act of clemency.