Mike Lee Profile picture
Jan 27 • 11 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X
🧵 1/ What Are Letters Of Marque And Reprisal And How Could They Be Used To Weaken Drug Cartels? 🚨 Image
2/ Letters of marque and reprisal are government-issued commissions that authorize private citizens (privateers) to perform acts that would otherwise be considered piracy, like attacking enemy ships during wartime

Privateers are rewarded with a cut of the loot they “bring home” Image
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3/ Legal Basis in the U.S.

The U.S. Constitution authorizes these commissions in Article I, Section 8, giving Congress the power to “grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal”

While Congress hasn’t issued one in over a century, the authority to do so still exists Image
4/ Modern Context: Mexican Drug Cartels

Using letters of marque could be a novel, but effective response to unique threats posed by drug cartels—especially in response to threats by the cartels to target U.S. planes returning illegal immigrants to their countries of origin Image
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5/ How Could They Be Applied?

- Authorization: Congress could issue letters of marque and reprisal authorizing private security firms or specially trained civilians to intercept cartel operations, particularly those involving drug shipments or human trafficking across borders

- Targets: Focus on disrupting supply lines, capturing high-value targets, or seizing assets like boats, vehicles, cash, gold, or equipment used in criminal activitiesImage
6/ Advantages

- Flexibility: Private entities operate with more agility than the government, adapting quickly with the tactics of cartels

- Cost: Would reduce the financial burden on taxpayers, as privateers receive only a cut of what they recover & return to the U.S. Image
7/ Criticism

The use of letters of marque and reprisal would undoubtedly draw criticism, especially from those inclined to elevate abstract, often-inchoate principles of what they deem “international law” above the sovereign interests of the United States Image
8/ Dismissing the possible use of letters of marque to combat Mexican drug cartels—either on the basis of “international law” or otherwise—overlooks the clear and present threat posed by those cartels to the U.S.

This could prove to be an effective alternative to war Image
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9/ We have no desire to go to war with our southern neighbor

But we also can’t ignore the fact that drug cartels are now threatening to target U.S. planes deporting illegal aliens

That sounds like a great reason to consider issuing letters of marque and reprisal Image
10/ Letters of marque and reprisal have worked well for the U.S.—and countless other countries—in the past

We’d be wrong not to consider using them against the cartels Image
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11/ Please share if you like this idea—and follow if you’d like to see more posts about letters of marque and reprisal & other amazing, little-known features of the U.S. Constitution Image

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More from @BasedMikeLee

Jul 30
đź§µ 1. The confirmation backlog keeps getting longer as Senate committees continue to approve nominees much faster than the Senate is voting on them
2. This morning alone the committee I chair—Energy & Natural Resources—just approved three more nominees, who will now be added to the quickly growing backlog

Another committee on which I serve—Foreign Relations—also reported out three more today
3. That’s *six* more nominees added to the backlog from just *two* Senate committees; many other committees continue to approve nominees at the same rate

This problem isn’t going to go away on its own

The Senate must address this aggressively
Read 7 tweets
Jul 24
đź§µ1/ The TSA does violence to the Constitution and erodes liberty

Here’s why we must rethink its role
#TSA
#FourthAmendment #Liberty
2/ The Fourth Amendment protects us against “unreasonable searches and seizures”

TSA’s invasive pat-downs and body scanners—applied to every traveler without any specific, articulable basis for suspicion—clash with this core principle

Blanket searches aren’t “reasonable”
3/ Courts have upheld TSA searches under “administrative search” exceptions, but that’s quite a stretch

Interstate travel is a right—not a perk to be doled out by the government to reward the subservient

Mass, warrantless searches of innocent Americans—without probable cause or even reasonable suspicion—mock & dangerously weaken the Constitution
Read 9 tweets
Jul 24
🧵1/ At the current pace, it’ll be April 2026 before we confirm the 135 Trump nominees now pending in the Senate

We need a game-changer

Otherwise, we risk extending rule by the leftist Deep State™️, which has outsized influence when GOP political appointees aren’t confirmed Image
2/ Shockingly, it’s about to get worse, as my projection focuses solely on the 135 nominees currently pending & awaiting floor votes

It does *not* account for new additions as committees keep reporting out nominees (including the 124 still in committee & future submissions)
3/ Based on the average rate during the 119th Congress—where 232 nominees have been added to the calendar over the first 6 months (97 confirmed + 135 current)—that's about nine new additions per week
Read 10 tweets
Jul 18
🧵 1/ Marxism inspires people to wield government’s coercive power against their fellow citizens—inevitably causing immense harm—all while insisting that the harm is justified because “it’s for their own good” Image
2/ Once embraced, the “it’s for their own good” mantra can be misused to justify cruelty in almost any setting in which there is a pronounced power differential—including at work (mean boss), home (abusive spouse or parent), or school (tyrannical teacher) Image
3/ While potentially harmful in countless other settings, the “it’s for their own good” mindset can become nothing short of *deadly* when it takes hold in government Image
Read 12 tweets
Jul 18
1/ USAID has become a vehicle for pushing anti-American, radical far-left ideologies—all on the taxpayer’s dime. The problems go far beyond waste, fraud, and abuse. They undermine our security, promote extremism, and harm the very people they aim to help.
2/ USAID undermines American interests by failing to counter our adversaries like China. Instead of binding countries to us through trade and investment, we’ve wasted billions on a global green agenda that forces poor nations to rely on China for energy. Result? Recipients like South Africa (a top aid receiver) align with China in BRICS, support Hamas, and oppose us at the UN.
3/ Mozambique and Tanzania, other major aid beneficiaries, even conducted military exercises with China’s People’s Liberation Army—expanding Beijing’s influence right to our Atlantic doorstep. 19 of the top 20 USAID recipients are part of China’s Belt & Road Initiative. Our aid isn't buying loyalty; it’s subsidizing our competitors.
Read 7 tweets
Jul 14
🚨🧵 1/ Alexis de Tocqueville warned us against the evils of socialism in *Democracy in America*—without using the word “socialism,” which had not yet entered common parlance Image
2/ Without using the word itself, Tocqueville described socialist systems as exercising “an immense and tutelary power, which takes upon itself alone to secure their gratifications and to watch over their fate”

“That power is absolute, minute, regular, provident, and mild” Image
3/ “It would be like the authority of a parent if, like that authority, its object was to prepare men for manhood; but it seeks, on the contrary, to keep them in perpetual childhood: it is well content that the people should rejoice, provided they think of nothing but rejoicing” Image
Read 12 tweets

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