- Sen. Mike Lee proposes a bill allowing American hackers to target foreign threats.
- The bill revives letters of marque, enabling cyber privateers to seize assets and take a percentage as a reward.
- Lee is running similar legislation that would allow privateers to seize ships and other property from drug cartels.
SALT LAKE CITY — American hackers would be allowed to target foreign online threats and to recover money taken from Americans through online scams under a new bill proposed by Sen. Mike Lee.
The Cyber Letters of Marque and Reprisal Act relies on a constitutional principle not used since the first few decades after the nation's founding, which let privateers to sink or capture enemy ships. Adapted for the modern age, Lee's bill would empower cyber privateers to keep a percentage of their plunder as a reward, and a portion could also fund a "bounty program" for future efforts to deter cybercrime.
"Our legislation allows American digital privateers to raid cartels, cybercriminals and foreign adversaries, disrupting their operations and seizing their assets," the Utah Republican stated. "This is the ultimate in white hat hacking: stealing from America's enemies at the direction of the president and splitting the profits with the federal government."
The bill, which was also introduced in the House by Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tennessee, authorizes the president or a designated official to issue letters of marque and reprisal to certain individuals, enabling them to disrupt foreign threats. Anyone granted such a letter would be restricted from conducting online operations against any U.S. citizen or entity.
Foreign threats are defined as a "foreign individual, group or entity" the president identifies as being "responsible for, or a sponsor of, cyberattacks against" U.S. citizens or assets owned or controlled by Americans.
It's not the first time Lee has sought to revive the practice of issuing letters of marque and reprisal, which have remained enshrined in the Constitution but not issued by the U.S. government since the War of 1812, according to Cornell University's Legal Information Institute. The senator introduced a bill in December that would allow Americans to seize the property of cartels or others responsible for aggression against the U.S. That bill has yet to advance.
Letters of marque were more common in the early days of the United States. President James Madison issued more than 500 letters to private citizens during the War of 1812, which allowed privateers to target British merchant ships. The Confederate States of America issued letters of marque during the Civil War, but President Abraham Lincoln did not use the power.
Many privateers also engaged in piracy, especially during times of peace when they were expected to return to normal commercial activity. Privateering was banned by the Paris Declaration respecting Maritime Law of 1856, but the U.S. did not sign on to the treaty.
An Arizona congressman introduced federal legislation in 2025 to authorize letters of marque and reprisal to target digital assets, similar to the legislation proposed by Lee and Burchett.
Burchett said cybercrime is "an existential threat to our national security."
"Allowing private operators to aid the federal government in combatting these crimes will strengthen our ability to defend the United States against terrorism," he said.
The bill was introduced and assigned to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
