U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin has expressed his support for President Joe Biden's decision to commute the sentences of most individuals on federal death row to life imprisonment. Durbin, who serves as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had previously led a group of 12 Senators urging the President to review and commute these sentences.

"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," Durbin stated. "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."

Durbin is actively involved in legislative efforts against capital punishment at the federal level. He is the lead sponsor of the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act, which aims to eliminate the death penalty federally and mandate re-sentencing for those currently on death row. This legislation was introduced by Durbin along with U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley in July 2019 after an announcement from the Department of Justice regarding resuming executions.

The Trump Administration ended a 17-year hiatus on federal executions by executing Daniel Lewis Lee in July 2020, followed by six more executions until September 2020. After losing the November 2020 election, then-President Trump increased execution rates during his final weeks in office. In response, Durbin sought an investigation into what he described as an unprecedented spree of executions during Trump's lame-duck period.