Executive Order 14342: Taking Steps To End Cashless Bail To Protect Americans

What does Executive Order 14342 do?

EO 14342 required the Attorney General to submit within 30 days a list of state and local jurisdictions that substantially eliminated cash bail for specified offenses and directed agencies to identify potentially suspendable or terminable funds, consistent with law. A February 2026 CBO estimate for proposed reporting legislation describes the EO's list requirement. The reviewed primary sources did not establish that the Attorney General's list was publicly released or that a specific grant was lawfully terminated under the order.

Later evidence reviewed September 27, 2026: CBO confirms the reporting direction. It does not establish public release of the list or implementation against a particular jurisdiction.

Reading the operative provisions of Executive Order 14342

Who is identified, and who receives the list? Section 2(a) uses the Attorney General’s opinion that cash bail has been substantially eliminated as a potential pretrial condition for the specified crimes, including violent, sexual or indecent acts, burglary, looting and vandalism. It is not a direction to list every jurisdiction that ever releases someone without money. The initial list goes to the President through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security; that routing role is different from the Attorney General’s identification responsibility. Updates are required as necessary, without a stated annual publication requirement.

Which funds enter the review? Section 2(b) concerns federal funds currently provided to jurisdictions identified under section 2(a), expressly including grants and contracts. Department and agency heads identify funds that may lawfully be suspended or terminated, coordinating with OMB. The text specifies neither a dollar total nor an automatic suspension date. It does not direct courts to require cash bail or replace each jurisdiction’s pretrial-release statutes.

EO 14342 directs the Attorney General to identify jurisdictions the administration describes as having substantially eliminated cash bail and to identify potentially suspendable or terminable federal funds, including grants and contracts, provided to those jurisdictions. The Federal Register text assigns an identification and review process; it does not itself prohibit a state or locality from using nonfinancial release conditions.

Pretrial release systems can consider risk, court appearance, public safety and less restrictive conditions. Federal constitutional law does not make cash payment the only lawful way to manage those goals. A jurisdiction’s bail policy is created under its own law, while the federal government may influence practice through grants only when Congress has authorized the condition and recipients receive clear notice.

The order’s required list and funding review are separate from an actual grant restriction. A jurisdiction should not be described as having lost federal funds unless an agency has issued a specific decision under valid authority. The cited congressional analysis on this page confirms the reporting direction but does not establish that the list was published. Implementation should be tracked through DOJ records, grant notices and any court rulings, not assumed from the executive order alone.

What the CBO estimate measures. The complete February 3, 2026 estimate evaluates H.R. 5625 as ordered reported by the House Judiciary Committee on December 18, 2025. It contrasts the bill’s proposed annual public list with the EO’s submission to the President. Its estimate of less than $500,000 over 2026–2030 concerns the cost of implementing that bill, subject to appropriations—not federal grants withdrawn under EO 14342. A cost estimate is not evidence of the bill’s enactment, the EO list’s delivery or publication, or a completed funding sanction.