Amid growing backlash, the likes of which federal officials may not have anticipated, the White House on Friday reversed course on a key decision in very public fashion.

In the wake of an announcement outlining a plea deal reached with three Sept. 11 terrorists which took the death penalty off the table, the Biden administration, via Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, revoked the agreement as outrage continued to build, as Fox News reports.

Controversial plea deal announced

It was last week that the Defense Department first outlined the terms of the plea agreement that had been reached with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two of his 9/11 accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, as the Associated Press reported.

Attorneys for the Department of Defense asked that in exchange for their guilty pleas, the men would be given life sentences and that the possible imposition of the death penalty in the men's cases be lifted.

Unsurprisingly, the idea that the men behind the deaths of more than 3,000 Americans back in 2001 should evade the ultimate sanction did not sit well with survivors of the terror attacks of that fateful day and the relatives of those who lost their lives as a result of the defendants' actions.

Terry Strada, chair of the 9/11 Families victim advocacy group lamented the decision as a miscarriage of the justice she believes is long overdue.

“For me personally, I wanted to see a trial. And they just took away the justice I was expecting, a trial and the punishment,” said Strada.

Outcry prompts reversal

As outrage over the move continued to grow, including from members of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, on Friday, Austin announced a complete course-correction and declared the plea deals no longer in effect, as Fox News explained.

Now taking over the administration of the terrorists' cases, Austin issued a stern memorandum to the individual who had overseen the negotiations leading to the agreement.

The defense secretary stated, “I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009. Effective immediately, I hereby withdraw your authority in the above-referenced case to enter into a pre-trial agreement and reserve such authority to myself.”

“Effective immediately in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pretrial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024,” Austin wrote.

House probes launched

In response to initial plea arrangement and the resulting shockwaves it sent, House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-KY) launched a probe of the decision-making process that led to such a controversial result, as the New York Post reports.

Expressing skepticism about administration denials of involvement in the crafting of the deal, Comer wrote in a letter to the president, “That White House officials and you, as President and Commander in Chief, would seek to distance your Administration from this decision is understandable given how absurd it is, but it is far from believable or appropriate.”

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), chair of the House Armed Services Committee also separately demanded information regarding what he called the “unconscionable” deal, though whether these investigations will be aggressively pursued now that Austin has essentially nullified them, only time will tell.