Trump to sign two orders on cashless bail and flag desecration

President Donald Trump is preparing to sign two executive orders on Monday that would broadly end cashless bail nationwide and direct a crackdown on flag desecration, while a separate directive aimed at Washington, D.C., would require arrestees to be held in federal custody where possible and would allow the federal government to withhold funding from jurisdictions that retain cashless bail. A third measure would increase aggressive prosecution of flag burning and set out immigration consequences for noncitizens who desecrate the flag. The moves reflect a widening use of federal power to shape local crime policy and policing in the capital and across the country as the White House presses a law-and-order agenda.

In Washington, D.C., the DC-specific order directs law enforcement to hold arrestees in federal custody to the greatest extent permissible and to pursue federal charges and pretrial detention when feasible. The administration also would identify federal funds that could be suspended or terminated in jurisdictions that continue cashless bail policies, with the Attorney General’s office tasked with listing states and localities that employ such practices. The plan comes...