Reflections From a Murky Pond

Soon it’ll be pirating time! Well, privateering, since we’ll have Letters of Marque and Reprisal and, hence, safe ports in the US. 😆 Some of us lads – and a few lassies I’m sure – will be able to hoist the Jolly Roger and prowl the Caribbean for enemy vessels to seize or sink.

And no, Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m not exactly kidding. There’s a bill introduced to Congress granting President Trump the legal authority to issue those Letters of Marque and Reprisal.

S.3567 – 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.

— Sen. Lee, Mike (R-UT)
(Introduced 12/18/2025)

Of course, absolutely nothing will come of this. Nothing! This is just a bit of fun and fantasy. S.3567 is, was, and will remain DOA in committee. It won’t even reach a floor vote, where it would fail anyway, given that Democrats vote against every single bill put forth by American Senators.

Even beyond enemy action or inaction in the Senate, there’s a laundry list of issues that would need to be addressed. While the U.S. Constitution, in Article I, Section 8, Clause 11, empowers Congress to “grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal,” there’s a bit more to it than just commissioning ships’ captains into privateers and setting them upon Venezuelan narcoterrorists and, potentially, tankers violating international and/or American sanctions. A whole legal infrastructure would need to be (re)created, e.g., Prize Courts.

Ah well, it’s a fun thought even though there’s statistically no chance that I’ll ever be able to captain a modern sloop-of-war claiming prizes from Caracus to the Gulf of America.

Tags: America | Humor | Marque | Narcoterrorists | Piracy | Pirates | Politics | Privateers | Reprisal | S.3567 | Society | US Senate | Venezuela

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 27th, 2025 at 10:29 am and is filed under Humor, Politics, Society. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.