We can give you more details on an executive order to be signed by President Donald Trump today. The order is expected to be one that would pressure jurisdictions to eliminate cashless bail, two White House officials told CNN.
It will direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to provide the president with a list of jurisdictions that have cashless bail policies, the officials said.
It also threatens to revoke federal funding or government-backed project approvals for the areas that don’t comply with the order.
The New York Post was the first to report the details of Monday’s executive order.
In jurisdictions with cashless bail policies, suspects who have been arrested cannot be required to put up money to be released from custody before trial. Some areas that could potentially be targeted following the order include New York and Washington, DC.
Some context: It is meant to reduce financial burdens for people making their way through the criminal justice system. Washington, DC, has had this system in place since the 1990s and was one of the first jurisdictions in the United States to implement it.
Trump previewed the move earlier this month, when he federalized the Washington, DC, police force and called in National Guard troops, characterizing cashless bail as a “disaster.” The president also called on Congress to pass legislation cracking down on the policy.
“Cashless bail policies allow dangerous individuals to immediately return to the streets and further endanger law-abiding, hard-working Americans because they know our laws will not be enforced,” a White House memo on the executive action reads.
Trump cannot unilaterally change state and local laws to end cashless bail policies, but his threat to take federal funding could persuade places to do so on their own.
CNN’s Michael Williams contributed to this report.
