August 25, 2025executiveCriminal JusticeFederalism
Trump Threatens to Defund States Over Cashless Bail Policies
President Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from states that maintain cashless bail programs, attempting to use federal grant leverage to override state criminal justice policy. The move represented an extension of federal coercion tactics into areas traditionally governed by state law. Legal experts questioned whether the threat was constitutional under the anti-commandeering doctrine.