Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets

This Executive Order directs federal agencies to adopt a tougher, enforcement-centered approach to homelessness, substance use, and public disorder in cities. It pushes federal law enforcement and health, housing, and transportation agencies to promote—and financially reward—state and local policies that remove people from public spaces, expand civil commitment and court-ordered treatment for people with serious mental illness or substance use disorders, and restrict federal support for programs the Administration regards as enabling illegal drug use or failing to promote “treatment, recovery, and self-sufficiency.” The Order also instructs agencies to review whether federally funded homelessness providers violate federal law (for example, by operating “safe consumption” sites) and to increase data collection and sharing with law enforcement where allowed by law. If implemented, the Order would shift federal grant priorities and technical assistance away from “housing first” and harm-reduction models and toward more coercive treatment and enforcement measures (including civil commitment, assisted outpatient treatment, encampment removals, and expanded use of diversion courts). It could lead to increased coordination between law enforcement and homelessness/behavioral-health systems, larger roles for civil commitment and court-ordered treatment, and pressure on state and local governments and service providers to change program rules and data practices.