Steve Cortes, founder of the League of American Workers, said that President Trump’s opposition to cashless bail and his support for cutting federal funding to states with lenient bail and crime policies represent a return to safety and responsibility.
“Finally, a President who understands that law and order isn’t optional, it’s foundational,” said Cortes. “If blue-state politicians want to play social justice roulette with criminals by unleashing them on innocent families, they shouldn’t expect the hardworking taxpayers of America to subsidize their recklessness. Cashless bail is a conveyor belt for chaos, and Trump is right to slam the brakes. No more federal welfare for failed ideas. Let’s go straight back to safety, sanity, and justice.”
On August 25, 2025, President Trump signed a series of executive orders reinforcing his law-and-order agenda, according to the White House. One order threatens to withhold federal funding from jurisdictions that use cashless bail, arguing the policy endangers public safety. This order puts the spotlight on places like Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C., potentially compelling states to reconsider their pretrial release systems if they hope to retain federal support.
According to Trump in the order: “As President, I will require commonsense policies that protect Americans’ safety and well-being by incarcerating individuals who are known threats.” He further said: “It is therefore the policy of my Administration that Federal policies and resources should not be used to support jurisdictions with cashless bail policies, to the maximum extent permitted by law.”
Shore News Networks reported that New Jersey could soon face cuts to federal funding after President Trump signed the executive order targeting states using cashless bail systems. The order claims such policies compromise public safety by allowing repeat offenders back onto the streets and instructs federal agencies to review whether funding should continue for states and cities that refuse to roll them back.
Since January 1, 2017, under the Criminal Justice Reform Act, New Jersey has largely eliminated traditional cash bail for most offenses. According to Legal Clarity, the state employs a risk-based assessment framework replacing monetary bail with judicial decision-making based on objective criteria rather than a defendant’s financial resources. The Public Safety Assessment (PSA) is used as a data-driven tool evaluating a defendant’s risk by analyzing factors such as age, criminal history, current charges, and prior failures to appear. Based on these inputs, the PSA generates scores on the likelihood of court non-appearance (FTA) and new criminal activity (NCA), as well as a flag for potential violent re-offense.
Cortes is Founder and President of League of American Workers and senior political advisor to CatholicVote. He is also a former senior advisor to President Trump and JD Vance and has been a commentator for Fox News and CNN. Cortes regularly releases documentaries and columns at cortesinvestigates.com.
