Op-Eds

U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced legislation today that would allow private entities to stop drug cartel smuggling and violence. The Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act authorizes President Trump, as provided under the Constitution, to commission American operators under letters of marque to seize cartel property and persons on land or sea. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN) introduced the House version of the legislation.

U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced a resolution today condemning the European Union’s recent decision to sanction the social media platform X for its refusal to censor American users’ online speech. The massive $140 million fine is the latest in a string of radical free speech infringement by European governments, including prison sentences for writers and even viewers of social media posts deemed “misinformation” or “hate speech.” U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) cosponsored the resolution.

When House Speaker Mike Johnson sends the Senate the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is obligated to prepare for a trial. Instead Mr. Schumer plans to offer a motion to table the articles of impeachment by majority vote.

The FBI has used Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to conduct warrantless “backdoor” searches of the private electronic communications of American citizens. It has done so, moreover, not just sporadically and by accident but quite deliberately and on hundreds of thousands of occasions.

Ukraine is the new obsession for Washington’s war hawks. “As long as it takes” remains the mantra of the Biden administration regarding support for Ukraine.

It’s no secret that President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkashave presided over a national security and humanitarian crisis at our nation’s southern border. In the week leading up to the expiration of Title 42, Border Patrol saw more than 11,000 migrants crossing the border illegally each day – the highest single daily totals ever recorded.

The “high-stakes game of chicken” has become a cliche headline in a town plagued by partisan paralysis. As we approach the “x” date concerning the debt ceiling, the lazy platitude has a scheduled appearance on your notification screen. But the comparison is incomplete. A game of chicken would imply the two parties hurtling toward each other, with the full faith and credit of the United States at the center.

As the Utah Legislature considers the newly proposed state flag, the words of Benjamin Franklin come to mind: “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” Utah’s success is partly due to our sempiternal desire to improve, never to be content with a good thing that could be made better. In this spirit of growth and progress, I support the newly proposed state flag.

Back in September, we wrote in these pages about our disgust with reckless spending in Washington and the historic inflation it was forcing on American families. In that op-ed, we made clear that for the spending to stop, Republicans must unite in opposing another spending bill and demand that we pass a continuing resolution (CR) that simply maintains current federal spending levels – and not a penny more – until a new Congress begins.

Recently, the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA)—a bill designed to protect same-sex marriage by essentially codifying the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges—cleared a major procedural hurdle and appears to be on a fast track to becoming law. Twelve Senate Republicans joined all 50 Senate Democrats to secure the super-majority needed to advance legislation in the Senate. Those voting for the bill relied on assurances from the bill’s proponents that it would codify the core tenets of Obergefell v. Hodges without undermining religious liberty.