S. 3567Senate119th Congress (2025-2027)In Committee

Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025

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Updated January 21, 2026 at 8:10 AM UTC

The Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025 would let the President issue letters of marque and reprisal against members of drug or criminal cartels that carry out hostile actions against the United States. By doing so, the President could commission privately armed and equipped persons or entities to capture or seize those individuals and their property abroad, aiming to deter and punish cartel aggression. The measure applies to private actors, cartel members, and any linked conspirators, and includes a requirement that each commission be secured by a bond.

Key Provisions

The President is given authority to issue letters of marque and reprisal, allowing privately armed individuals or groups to act against cartel members or conspirators who have committed aggression against the United States.
Private actors may be commissioned to seize the person and property of designated cartel members or linked organizations outside U.S. territory, using any means reasonably necessary.
Each letter of marque must be backed by a security bond, the amount of which the President sets to ensure compliance with the letter’s terms.
The bill defines “cartel” as any organization listed in a specific 2025 executive order or identified as a “transnational criminal organization” under existing U.S. law.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Foreign Relations Committee

December 18, 2025

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

December 18, 2025

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Foreign Relations Committee

December 18, 2025

Bill Text

Latest available legislative text

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Introduced in SenateIssued December 18, 2025

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 3567

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

December 18, 2025

Mr. Lee introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To authorize the President of the United States to issue letters of marque and reprisal with respect to acts of aggression against the United States by a member of a cartel, or a member of a cartel-linked organization, or any conspirator associated with a cartel, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025.

Findings

The Congress finds the following:

(1)

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution grants the Congress the power to grant letters of marque and reprisal to punish, deter, and prevent the acts of aggression and depredations and other acts of war committed by cartel conspirators.

(2)

Cartels present an unusual and extraordinary threat to national security and foreign policy of the United States.

Issuance of letters of marque and reprisal

(a)

Authority of President

The President of the United States is authorized and requested to commission, under officially issued letters of marque and reprisal, so many of privately armed and equipped persons and entities as, in the judgment of the President, the service may require, with suitable instructions to the leaders thereof, to employ all means reasonably necessary to seize outside the geographic boundaries of the United States and its territories the person and property of any individual who the President determines is a member of a cartel, a member of a cartel-linked organization, or a conspirator associated with a cartel or a cartel-linked organization, who is responsible for an act of aggression against the United States.

(b)

Security Bonds

No letter of marque and reprisal shall be issued by the President without requiring the posting of a security bond in such amount as the President shall determine is sufficient to ensure that the letter be executed according to the terms and conditions thereof.

(c)

Definition of cartel

In this section, the term cartel means an organization that—

(1)

is described in section 1 of the Executive order titled Designating Cartels And Other Organizations As Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists and dated January 20, 2025; or

(2)

is a transnational criminal organization under the meaning given that term in section 3003(5) of the Public Law 118–50 (21 U.S.C. 2341(5)).