A South Carolina man set to die by lethal injection is requesting a delay until more information is gathered about the drug that will kill him. 

The execution of Marion Bowman Jr. is set for Jan. 31, but he is concerned that the drug used to put another man to death in November required two large doses more than 11 minutes apart.

An anesthesiologist involved in reviewing autopsy records of Richard Moore, who was executed on Nov. 1, 2024, showed fluid in Moore’s lungs, leading lawyers to believe he “consciously experienced feelings of drowning and suffocation during the 23 minutes that it took to bring about his death,” according to The Associated Press.

SOUTH CAROLINA EXECUTES RICHARD MOORE DESPITE BROADLY SUPPORTED PLEA TO CUT SENTENCE TO LIFE

Prison officials have not released why Moore required a second dose of the drug, but claim the methods used are like other states’ use of the drug. 

Only one week ago, the federal government said it was rescinding protocol for executions with pentobarbital after a review raised concerns regarding “unnecessary pain and suffering,” but President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing federal officials to carry out executions.

President Donald Trump holds a document on the day he issues executive orders and pardons for January 6 defendants in the Oval Office at the White House on Jan. 20, 2025. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

A second review directed by the governor’s office and prison system showed that witnesses indicated Moore’s breathing stopped in two or three minutes, and he was unconscious, according to Dr. Joseph F. Antognini, an anesthesiologist who taught at the University of California, Davis.

“Before becoming unconscious, the individual would not feel the sensations of pain, suffocation or air hunger,” Antognini wrote.

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South Carolina executed Richard Moore on Nov. 1, 2024, by lethal injection, but he required two doses of the drug for his heart to stop. (Justice 360 via AP)

After that, the heart will have periodic, irregular beats for as long as 20 minutes before it stops, which could possibly be detected on a heart monitor and might have led to the second dose of pentobarbital, Antognini said.

State lawyers also said that Moore and another inmate who died by lethal injection had an attorney witness their deaths and “neither lawyer ever claimed that either man showed any signs of pain during his execution.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday pushed Republican state lawmakers to take urgent action on illegal immigration, voting to fight like a “junkyard dog” and warning of political consequences for defiance.

The governor leaned on the Florida legislature ahead of a special session next week, during which he wants legislators to pass new bills to crack down on illegal immigration in sync with President Donald Trump’s administration at the federal level. But GOP leaders have called the session “premature” and signaled that they may gavel out without taking action on the governor’s agenda items.

DeSantis warned that would be a costly mistake. “It would be very, very hazardous politically,” he told reporters during a roundtable discussion at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. He also suggested that he would call for another special session of the legislature if GOP leaders delay action.

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“I have my constitutional authority to wield in this process and I will continue to wield it as appropriate so that we’re able to get the job done,” he said, adding that he would fight like a “junkyard dog” to get his immigration policies enacted. 

“You don’t let go.” 

DeSantis wants Republicans to enact laws that would require state and local officials to comply with the new immigration orders issued by the White House and provide funding for them to do so. He has also called for legislation that would penalize state and local officials who violate Florida’s “anti-sanctuary policies,” WPTV reported. 

The governor also directed lawmakers to consider additional hurricane aid, crack down on ballot initiative signature fraud and address rising HOA fees. 

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The White House recently announced that “deportation flights have begun” in the U.S. (White House)

House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton reacted coolly when the governor called for a special legislative session starting on Jan. 27. In a joint statement on Jan. 13, they called it “irresponsible” for the legislature to act ahead of any announcements Trump may make on immigration and criticized DeSantis, stating the governor had offered only “fragmented ideas” and had not released any bill language or details for legislators to consider.

Lawmakers “will decide when and what legislation we consider,” the Florida House and Senate leaders said. 

Trump has already issued a flurry of executive orders to begin the promised “mass deportations” of illegal immigrants present in the U.S. On Monday, Trump declared an emergency at the southern border, deployed 1,500 soldiers to the border and ended the Biden administration’s CBP One app program to process migrants at ports of entry via humanitarian parole. 

His administration then launched a mass deportation operation, with ICE agents active in multiple cities and states across the U.S.

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President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday.  (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has also issued memos rescinding limits placed on ICE by the Biden administration, ordering a review of parole and expanding the use of expedited removal for recently-arrived illegal immigrants.

And Trump’s administration has moved to restore border wall construction and reinstate the Remain-in-Mexico policy, which requires migrants to stay in Mexico for the duration of their asylum cases.

These combined policies have resulted in a sharp 35% drop in illegal immigrant encounters at the southern border, multiple DHS sources told Fox News Digital. 

DeSantis rejected the concerns of the legislature, telling reporters on Thursday that “we’ve been waiting years for this moment. It’s not premature.”

“We can’t drag our feet. We can’t wait for something to go into effect in July. We need something immediately and we need to get everything moving, and we need to do what we told the people that elected us that we would do.” 

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming, who aims to unseat Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., during the Bayou State’s 2026 U.S. Senate contest, assailed the incumbent as a “RINO Republican” during an interview with Fox News Digital, using the acronym that abbreviates the phrase “Republican in name only.”

Fleming, who served as a U.S. House lawmaker from early 2009 through early 2017, was one of the founding members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. 

He ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2016 and held several posts during the first President Donald Trump administration. In 2023, with Trump’s endorsement, he won election to serve as the Pelican State’s treasurer.

When asked by Fox News Digital to name some lawmakers he largely aligns with ideologically, Fleming mentioned GOP Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris of Maryland, as well as Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah.

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When asked whether there are any federal departments or entities that he would like to see fully abolished, Fleming replied that if there are any federal entities he thinks should be eliminated, he said, “First on my list would be the Department of Education.”

Regarding the debt ceiling, he said if he were in office, he would seek to “leverage” debt ceiling increases to lower spending, adding, “I don’t think we should raise the debt ceiling.”

Fleming indicated that he supports foreign aid in some cases.

“I do believe in some level of foreign aid, particularly military foreign aid, when it’s in the best interest of the people of the United States,” he noted, suggesting that the U.S. should assist Taiwan and Israel. 

Fleming said that America must “be careful about” involving itself in affairs abroad. Pointing to Afghanistan and Iraq, he said, “We seem to win the wars but lose the peace.”

Fleming indicated that he is supportive of the TikTok ban that passed last year, because he does not believe it is “wise for us to allow the Chinese or any other foreign power, or even our own government, to spy on us through our social media.” He opined that the social media platform should be banned until it is no longer under the influence of the Communist Chinese Party government of China.

PRO-TRUMP IMPEACHMENT REPUBLICAN SEN BILL CASSIDY TARGETED FOR OUSTER BY FREEDOM CAUCUS FOUNDING MEMBER

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, speaks during a campaign rally for Rep. John Fleming, R-La., candidate for the U.S. Senate from Louisiana at Drusilla Seafood Restaurant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Nov. 6, 2016. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

In Louisiana’s jungle primary system, candidates of various parties run against each other, and if any candidate wins the majority, they win election to the role — but if no candidate gets the majority, the top two finishers compete in a runoff.

When Cassidy ran in 2014, he placed second in a field that included seven other candidates, advancing along with incumbent Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu to a runoff, which Cassidy won.

When Cassidy was re-elected in 2020, he won the majority and avoided a runoff, defeating a field of more than a dozen other candidates.

Cassidy was one of the seven GOP senators who voted to convict President Trump after the 2021 House impeachment in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Trump had already departed from office by the time of the February Senate vote, and the number of senators who voted to convict ultimately fell short of the threshold necessary for conviction.

During a CNN appearance that the outlet shared on social media in 2023, Cassidy said he thought Trump should drop out of the presidential contest, though the lawmaker noted that the decision was up to Trump, who he said would lose to President Joe Biden based on the polls at the time.

HEGSETH BACKED BY LOUISIANA SEN. BILL CASSIDY TO LEAD THE PENTAGON UNDER TRUMP

After Trump had become the presumptive GOP presidential nominee last year, Kristin Welker asked Cassidy on “Meet the Press” whether he would endorse Trump. The senator responded by saying that he planned to vote for a Republican for president.

Cassidy in June pledged to work with Trump if the candidate returned to the White House. 

“Just met with my colleagues and President Trump. I was elected to work for Louisiana and the United States of America. I commit to working with President Trump if he is the next president—and it appears he is going to be—to make things better for all,” the senator said in a statement at the time.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

He congratulated Trump and Vice President JD Vance on their inaugurations earlier this week.

“Today, the American people start winning again. Republicans are going to secure the border, unleash American energy, and protect American manufacturing,” he noted in the statement. “Congratulations to President Trump and Vice President Vance. Let’s get to work!”

The lawmaker, who has served in the U.S. Senate for just over a decade, previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Trump endorsed Cassidy when the senator sought re-election in 2020, thanking him for supporting the Make America Great Again agenda, and praising his “outstanding” work representing Louisianans and Americans at large.

“THANK YOU @BillCassidy for all of your support with our #MAGA Agenda. You are doing an outstanding job representing the people of Louisiana & the U.S.A. You have my Complete and Total Endorsement!” Trump declared in a post.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Cassidy campaign spokesman said of Fleming, “He came in 5th place last time he ran for Senate in 2016 and currently has $500k in campaign debt.”

According to a Cassidy campaign press release, the senator “raised another $1 million across his reelection, leadership, and joint fundraising committees in the fourth quarter of 2024, bringing his campaign cash-on-hand to over $6.5 million.”

The Fleming campaign responded to the Cassidy spokesperson’s comment in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“The senate campaign loan is 100% owed to Treasurer Fleming, personally,” Fleming’s campaign noted. “With regard to placement, Sen Cassidy ran against a weak Republican and a politically-wounded Democrat who had voted for Obamacare among other things. And, he had the backing of the entire Republican Party.” 

“Treasurer Fleming ran in an open seat against 23 opponents of all parties, some of whom divided his political base geographically as well as ideologically,” the statement continued. “Sen. John Kennedy ultimately won Fleming’s senate race as he was also the Louisiana State Treasurer and had run for the Senate before as Fleming is currently. What truly matters at this time is that Senator Cassidy voted to convict President Trump in the second impeachment trial during Trump’s first term. Had Trump been convicted, it would have foreclosed any possibility to reelect Trump leading to either a second Biden term or a Kamala Harris Presidency.”