Trump signed two executive orders August 25, 2025, threatening federal funding cuts to jurisdictions with cashless bail policies, directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to identify target states within 30 days and recommend funding suspensions. The nationwide order targets states releasing suspects without cash bail for violent, sexual, or property crimes, while a 🏛️D.C.-specific order instructs federal agents to hold arrestees in federal custody bypassing local policies.

🌽Illinois remains the only state that completely eliminated cash bail statewide in 2023, while 🗽New York, 🌴California, and Washington 🏛️D.C. limit cash bail use for non-violent offenses. D.C. implemented cashless bail policies in the 1990s over civil rights concerns, becoming one of the first major jurisdictions nationwide to reduce reliance on money-based pretrial detention systems.

Constitutional law experts from R Street Institute warn Trump's funding threats likely violate Tenth Amendment protections of state criminal justice authority, calling federal coercion to control local bail policies unprecedented executive overreach. Legal challenges are expected as states face losing billions in federal transportation, housing, and law enforcement grants for maintaining evidence-based reforms.

FactCheck.org verified Trump's claims that cashless bail increases crime are unsupported by data, with multiple fact-checking organizations confirming reformed jurisdictions show no significant crime increases. PolitiFact found Trump's claim that murder suspects get immediate release misleading, as most states with cashless bail maintain violent crime exceptions and judicial discretion for dangerous defendants.

The Brennan Center for Justice research demonstrates cash bail disproportionately harms poor defendants who lose jobs, housing, and family stability during pretrial detention, actually increasing recidivism rates. 🏖️New Jersey eliminated cash bail in 2017 with state officials reporting stable crime rates, while pretrial detention populations dropped 44% without public safety deterioration.

Trump claimed during signing ceremonies that cashless bail allows dangerous criminals repeated arrests for same crimes, specifically criticizing 🗽New York and Chicago policies stating people can murder someone and be released before day ends. White House officials cited disputed Yolo County, 🌴California study claiming 163% crime increases, while ignoring contradictory research from other reformed jurisdictions.

The orders escalate federal takeover attempts of Democratic city policing following National Guard deployment to Washington 🏛️D.C. and threats against Chicago, 🗽New York, and San Francisco. Critics argue these federal interventions constitute political retaliation against Democratic jurisdictions rather than evidence-based public safety policy, undermining local democratic governance for partisan theater.

Justice Department officials have 30 days to compile cashless bail jurisdiction lists, with federal department heads then identifying funds for suspension or termination including transportation infrastructure, housing programs, and law enforcement grants. The funding threats could affect hundreds of billions in federal assistance that states depend on for essential services beyond criminal justice operations.