Trump to sign executive order to eliminate no-cash bail for DC suspects
President Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order on Monday that aims to eliminate cashless bail for suspects arrested in Washington, D.C., a White House official confirmed to Fox News.
In addition to the D.C.-focused executive order, Fox News confirmed that Trump is also expected to sign a second executive order with the goal of ending cash bail nationwide by threatening to revoke federal funding for jurisdictions across the country. The New York Post first reported on the separate nationwide executive order.
Trump spoke about ending the nocash bail policy earlier this month, though hinted that he was going to do it through Congress using Republican votes “because the Democrats are weak on crime, totally weak on crime.”
“Every place in the country where you have no-cash bail is a disaster,” Trump said at the time, specifically naming New York and Chicago. “I mean, bad politicians started it, bad leadership started it. But that was the one thing that’s central. No-cash bail. Somebody murders somebody and they’re out on no-cash bail before the day is out.”
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No-cash bail is generally considered a progressive approach to criminal justice. As such reforms have been implemented in states like New York, data shows that bail elimination can lead to higher recidivism rates.
The Data Collaborative for Justice concluded in February 2024 that “the elimination of money bail increased recidivism for people charged with nonviolent felonies, with recent criminal history, and with a recent violent felony arrest, while it decreased recidivism for people charged with misdemeanors and people with no recent criminal history.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer, has been a strong critic of the state’s cashless bail law, which was enacted by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2019 and perpetuated under his successor, current Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Adams, who has argued Cuomo-era bail reforms drove up recidivism rates, resulting in offenders repeatedly being arrested and released back on the streets, now faces the former governor in November’s mayoral election. Democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, who is seen as the front-runner in the mayoral race after his June primary win, has promoted radical initiatives, such as eliminating all cash bail and abolishing prisons.
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Earlier this month, the Trump administration rolled out a plan aimed at making Washington, D.C., “safer and more beautiful” as his administration doubles down on efforts to address crime and a growing homeless population in the nation’s capital.
On Friday, Trump said he was considering sending the National Guard to Chicago, calling the Windy City “a mess,” though the White House has not offered additional details of a potential deployment of troops to Chicago.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson later called the Trump administration’s efforts “uncoordinated, uncalled-for and unsound,” seemingly snapping back at the president, who called him “grossly incompetent” earlier in the day.
Johnson added the city has reduced homicides by 30%, robberies by 35% and shootings by almost 40% in the last year, suggesting federal action would deteriorate trust.
The city, which struggles with poverty and gang activity, has a crime rate higher than the national average.
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace, Amanda Macias and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
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