Trump's death penalty push faces setbacks as judges block attempts to reverse prior decisions

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration is faltering in its aggressive pursuit of the death penalty as it revisits cases in which predecessors explicitly decided against seeking capital punishment.

Since taking office in February, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has authorized prosecutors to seek the death penalty against 19 people , including nine defendants in cases in which President Joe Biden's administration had sought lesser sentences. But judges have blocked those reversal attempts for all but two defendants, most recently on Monday in a pair of cases in the U.S. Virgin Islands, showing the limits of the Trump administration's power to undo decisions in cases already well underway.

In pursuing capital punishment, the Justice Department is seeking to foll