Congress takes aim at ‘cashless bail disaster’ with new White House-backed proposals

Cashless bail faces another hit in Washington, D.C., and other areas that have it in place, as the White House is backing two legislative proposals taking aim at the liberal criminal justice reform policy.

The “Ending Cashless Bail in Our Nation’s Capital Act” and the “Keep Violent Criminals Off Our Streets Act” are being led by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the Senate, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., in the House.

“Cashless bail and other soft-on-crime policies have empowered violent criminals across our country, putting the lives of law-abiding citizens at risk,” Blackburn stated.

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The anti-cashless bail proposal doubles down on an executive order from President Donald Trump scrapping the policy in the capital, as the federal government now has strong oversight over the local police department and a heavy physical presence on the ground from the National Guard, ICE, and the FBI.

It states that D.C. cannot have a “policy or practice” that “fails to allow cash bail at the highest level necessary to ensure public safety” as part of being released before trial if the individual is charged with numerous types of crimes.

“President Trump is leading the charge to restore law and order by ending these failed policies, and Congresswoman Stefanik and I are backing his efforts by introducing two bills to end cashless bail and keep violent offenders behind bars,” Blackburn continued.

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As for the second bill, it would take away the Edward Bryne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant award to jurisdictions that have regulations on cash bail.

Another August order from the president is asking for a list of jurisdictions that have “substantially eliminated cash bail” for serious criminal charges.

Stefanik said ending the “cashless bail disaster” would prevent people from being “released back onto the streets to commit more crimes.”

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A White House official on background confirmed they are backing the legislative proposals. 

The federal takeover of D.C. has brought the public safety conversation to the forefront, as many Democrats have railed against the move, but others, like Mayor Muriel Bowser, have taken note of the major plunge in crime.

“This is what we think in just a couple of weeks of experience has worked,” Bowser said in a news conference last week regarding the drop in crime.

“Having more federal law enforcement officers on the street — we think having more stops that got to illegal guns has helped. We think that there is more accountability in the system, or at least perceived accountability in the system, that is driving down illegal behavior. We know that we have had fewer gun crimes, fewer homicides, and we have experienced an extreme reduction in carjackings,” the Democrat added.