WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at eliminating cashless bail for suspects arrested in Washington, D.C., and threatening to withhold federal funding from states and cities with similar policies, according to the White House.
During a bill signing ceremony in the Oval Office on Aug. 25, Trump signed two crime-related executive orders. One order would target jurisdictions with cashless bail policies, while the other would seek stricter enforcement against acts of flag desecration.
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The cashless bail executive order contains both national and D.C.-specific provisions. Nationally, it directs the Attorney General to identify jurisdictions that have “substantially eliminated” cash bail for serious crimes and allows federal agencies to review whether grants and contracts to those jurisdictions can be suspended or terminated.
Separately, the order takes direct aim at Washington, D.C., requiring federal law enforcement agencies and the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force to ensure cashless bail in the District is eliminated. It directs that arrestees in D.C. be held in federal custody to the fullest extent permissible and that federal charges and pretrial detention be pursued whenever possible. The Attorney General must also review whether D.C. continues to allow cashless bail for crimes such as murder, rape, carjacking, burglary and assault. If the policy remains in place, the administration can impose additional measures, including limiting federal services or taking other actions deemed necessary because of “emergency conditions.”
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“That was when the big crime in this country started,” Trump said during the signing ceremony. “They kill people and they get out. Cashless bail, they thought it was discriminatory to make people put up money because they just killed three people lying on the street.”
Several states, including Illinois, have moved away from cash bail. Others, including New York and New Jersey, limit its use for certain nonviolent offenses.
The White House fact sheet highlighted examples of offenders in D.C. who were released under cashless bail policies — including a man who was charged with a fatal stabbing just two days after being released on a misdemeanor assault charge. Officials argue these cases show how the policy endangers federal workers, residents, and visitors in the nation’s capital.
Trump’s second order directs the U.S. attorney general to pursue prosecutions in flag desecration cases by identifying applicable state and local laws. Though burning the American flag is protected under the First Amendment, as ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court in Texas v. Johnson (1989), the Trump administration is seeking new pathways to pursue such cases through other legal channels.
The orders come as Trump signals increased interest in federal involvement in crime outside Washington. On Aug. 22, he told reporters Chicago could be his next focus.
