Trump Signs Executive Orders Eliminating Cashless Bail, Threatening Federal Funds

President Trump signed two executive orders on August 25, 2025, aimed at eliminating cashless bail policies nationwide and specifically in Washington D.C. The nationwide order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to identify states and jurisdictions with cashless bail policies and authorizes withholding or revoking federal grants to those jurisdictions. The D.C.-specific order directs federal law enforcement to pursue federal charges and pretrial detention for D.C. arrestees whenever possible.

The orders represent an unprecedented federal intrusion into state and local criminal justice systems, using the threat of federal funding cuts to coerce jurisdictions into abandoning bail reform policies. Within 30 days, the Attorney General must submit a list of jurisdictions that have ‘substantially eliminated cash bail’ for crimes deemed threats to public safety, setting the stage for systematic defunding of progressive criminal justice reforms.

Civil rights advocates warn that these orders will disproportionately harm low-income defendants who cannot afford bail, potentially jailing thousands of people too poor to pay while awaiting trial. The use of federal funding as a weapon against state and local policy choices exemplifies how executive power can be leveraged to override democratic decision-making and impose federal mandates on criminal justice systems.