🧵 1/ What Are Letters Of Marque And Reprisal And How Could They Be Used To Weaken Drug Cartels? 🚨
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”
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
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
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 activities
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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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
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
🧵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
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
🧵 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”
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)
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
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.
🚨🧵 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
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”
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”