Since September, U.S. forces have launched strikes on at least 26 suspected drug smuggling boats, killing at least 99 people in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. To justify the strikes, Trump has said the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. Under Lee’s “Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025,” ordinary American citizens could join them in plying the seas for vessels to intercept. During the 18th century, the U.S. authorized privateers to fight in the American Revolutionary War against the British, whose Royal Navy was unrivaled at the time. “I think Trump’s the right one to activate it.”Burchett introduced a version of the bill in the House in February.

Source: Washington Post December 20, 2025 18:11 UTC