Although the White House cannot directly govern local areas that opt not to enforce cash bail for those accused of crimes, especially frequent offenders, experts indicate that the president does have options to sway cities plagued by escalating crime rates.
President Donald Trump recently revealed a new executive order designed to counter the expansion of cashless bail. He has instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to, within 30 days, compile a comprehensive list of jurisdictions where this policy is active. Additionally, he has directed other federal agencies to determine which grants and contracts might be halted as a consequence.
Trump articulated in the order, “As President, I will advocate for sensible policies that safeguard Americans’ safety by detaining individuals known to pose threats. Therefore, my Administration’s policy is to the greatest lawful extent not to use federal policies and resources to support jurisdictions with cashless bail policies.”
A police officer is positioned outside the U.S. Capitol in August 2025. (Getty Images)
A California study in 2023 found that violent crime tripled in the state under its “Zero Bail” policy.
“In each case, every individual deserves evaluation by a judge, an impartial magistrate who examines the person’s criminal background and the details of the current case to assess their risk level and decide what’s necessary to ensure they don’t commit further harm,” Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig expressed to Fox News Digital. “This evaluation is crucial in all cases.”
Another form of cashless bail, as noted by Rice, is the unsecured bond. In such scenarios, a bond is assigned a dollar value, which the defendant is not required to post unless they fail to attend a court date.
“The absurd aspect of this is if someone skips their court appearance, it is unlikely they will pay a bond as well,” Rice explained to Fox News Digital. “Unsecured bonds are a ludicrous notion, yet cashless bonds are growing in popularity in numerous blue states, particularly in liberal regions. Many of these states are starting to realize the negative repercussions.”
In particular, he said, low-level criminals who are released go back to committing crimes like shoplifting and burglary almost immediately, before their pending cases go to court, lowering the quality of life and keeping crime levels high even in areas where murders are down.
In Baltimore, for example, medical advances have made it more likely for victims to survive shootings.
“What we see is that people that got shot who maybe 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago would have died, they go to Shock Trauma, and they save them,” he said, referring to the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Shock Trauma Center. “So while the murder number may drop, the shooting number may be consistent or be going up, which is still a sign of crime in a city.”
