Overview

• On Aug. 25, the president signed orders directing agencies to withhold certain grants and contracts from jurisdictions that have "substantially eliminated" cash bail, with a separate directive aimed at Washington, D.C.
• He instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to deliver within 30 days a list of states and localities that ended money bail for offenses including burglary, looting and vandalism.
• Illinois, which abolished cash bail in 2023, defended its system, with Gov. JB Pritzker citing positive results and Loyola University Chicago research showing slightly lower failure‑to‑appear rates and more serious offenders held pretrial.
• Research cited by reform advocates, including Brennan Center analyses and D.C. Pretrial Services data, reports no statistical link between bail reform and higher crime and finds most people released pretrial are not rearrested.
• Critics such as law professor Ilya Somin say the orders intrude on state authority and usurp Congress’s spending power, while bail industry leaders praised the move as restoring accountability.