Marjorie Taylor Greene resolution would officially declare war against 10 Mexican cartels
The war declaration was introduced in October, just in time for the annual “War on Christmas.”
Context
The Constitution grants Congress, not the president, power to declare war. Since World War II, though, the U.S. has pivoted to something of a legal gray area, in which the president declares “hostilities” while Congress funds them. At times this has occurred for many years in a row, in a way that’s basically indistinguishable from an “official” war.
As a result, Congress hasn’t officially declared war since June 1942, when it jointly declared did so against Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania when those nations joined the Axis Powers in World War II. Congress didn’t even officially declare wars for such major U.S. conflicts as Korea in the 1950s, Vietnam in the 1960s, or Afghanistan and Iraq in the 2000–10s.
As far as GovTrack Insider can find, no member of Congress has introduced legislation to declare war in the past few years. Indeed, the recent trend has actually gone the opposite direction, with Democratic members introducing bills to prevent war with Iran and North Korea.
So far in the current Congress, the only other attempt to declare war has been a resolution from Rep. Al Green (D-TX9) to declare a symbolic “war” on racism.
Yet now, apparently for the first time in a long time, a member of Congress is attempting to officially declare war once again.
What the legislation does
A new congressional resolution would officially declare war against 10 Mexico-based drug and gang cartels:
- The Sinaloa Cartel
- The Jalisco New General Cartel
- The Los Zetas and Cartel del Noreste
- The Gulf Cartel
- The Tijuana Cartel
- The Juarez Cartel and La Linea
- The Beltran-Levya Organization
- The Guerreros Unidos
- The Los Rojos
- La Familia Michoacána and Knights Templar Cartel
The resolution was introduced on October 11 as H.J.Res. 95, by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA14).
How it would be implemented
If enacted, this would mark the first time in U.S. history that war is declared on a non-nation. While the specific cartels in question are all based in Mexico, the declaration of war wouldn’t be against Mexico itself.
However, the war would still be fought on Mexican ground, likely killing Mexican civilians as collateral damage.
But would it only be fought on Mexican ground?
A line in the legislative text’s preamble says: “These ruthless, violent, criminal organizations have associates, facilitators, and brokers in all 50 states of the United States.” If Congress declares war on Mexican cartels but they also operate in the U.S., that line could be interpreted as providing cover for U.S. military deployment in the U.S.
Then again, even if Congress did declare this war, the president as commander-in-chief would actually wage it. Joe Biden, or another potential future Democratic president, could always do so using a range of options.
For example, If the political conditions are favorable enough, a president might veto it outright. Or they might obey the letter but not the spirit of the law — for example, sending a mere token force of troops to abide by the congressional mandate, rather than wage an “all-out war” as congressional supporters intended.
Similarly named legislation
Several times in recent years, members of Congress have introduced similarly-titled legislation, but not quite identical.
Eight months earlier, in February, Rep. Greene cosponsored a similarly-named bill called the Declaring War on the Cartels Act. Despite the bluster in its title, though, that legislation from Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX2) would crack down on cartels’ finances and stiffen penalties, not officially declare war.
In January, Rep. Crenshaw also introduced an AUMF (Authorization for the Use of Military Force) against nine Mexican cartels. That would use the same “congressional authorization” mechanism as Congress previously used for Afghanistan and Iraq, which again isn’t officially declaring war.
Also similarly, in 2020, GovTrack Insider covered the Identifying Drug Cartels as Terrorists Act, which would have designated seven prominent cartels as terrorist organizations. The bill never passed. Yet again, though, that wouldn’t have officially declared war.
What supporters say
Supporters argue that the cartels have caused so many deaths, imported so many dangerous narcotics, and created so much chaos that a war is the only way to stop it.
“We must authorize the use of military force to eliminate the thugs who are smuggling drugs and illegal aliens across our southern border, leading to crime and the murder of countless Americans,” Rep. Greene wrote in a post on X, previously known as Twitter.
(There were 62 criminal convictions of noncitizens for homicide or manslaughter in Fiscal Year 2022, according to Customs and Border Protection.)
“While cartel members wait for their fate to be sealed by our great military, we [should] put a hit on their bank accounts by sanctioning any government that supports or allows cartels to operate,” Rep. Greene continued. “There is a war going on that affects every single American, but it’s not in Ukraine or the Middle East. It’s on our southern border.”
What opponents say
Opponents counter that such a potential war would be futile, citing the failures of the U.S.-led efforts to combat narcotics in foreign countries like Colombia.
“There’s little reason to believe that any of these tactics would be effective against Mexican cartels, to say nothing of the violations of national sovereignty and likely collateral damage they would cause,” Fiona Harrigan wrote for Reason. “Combining the war on drugs with the war on terror is a recipe for an expensive and ineffective mess of foreign engagement.”
“Simply stopping the supply of drugs into the country is an impossible task, as decades of prohibition show,” Harrigan continued. “Republicans would be far better off embracing harm-reduction strategies rather than pushing for another episode of military adventurism that is destined to fail.”
Odds of passage
Rep. Greene’s version has not yet attracted any cosponsors. It awaits a potential vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Rep. Crenshaw’s similarly-named Declaring War on the Cartels Act has attracted 12 cosponsors, all Republicans. It awaits a potential vote in any of five House committees: Financial Services, Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security, Judiciary, or Ways and Means.
Both legislations’ odds of passage are low in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
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This article was written by GovTrack Insider staff writer Jesse Rifkin.
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