(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order on Monday that seeks to end cashless bail by threatening to revoke federal funding for jurisdictions that use it, the White House said.
The move is the latest effort by Trump and Republicans to place crime on the national agenda as they preview a game plan to retain power in Washington in the midterm elections next year.
Cashless bail is a system where defendants are released from jail while awaiting trial based on their promise to appear in court, rather than by paying a specific cash amount.
Critics of the policy say it reduces the incentive for defendants to show up for trial and puts public safety at risk by allowing them back on the street. Supporters say many low-income people can’t afford to post bond.
Trump promised to take on cashless bail as part of his tough-on-crime approach in the 2024 presidential race.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rodgers, in a post on the social media platform X, confirmed Trump’s plan to sign the executive order.
Trump previewed his support for ending cashless bail in the District of Columbia earlier this month. When he announced his decision to temporarily federalize the D.C. police force, he called the policy a “disaster.”
The nation’s capital was one of the first U.S. cities to largely eliminate cash bail in the 1990s. Under the city’s policy, a judge assesses whether a defendant should be released from jail based on their risk of not showing up for trial.
Illinois also has eliminated cash bail. Some other states, including New York, California and New Jersey, have scaled it back.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Toby Chopra and Andrew Heavens)
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