(The Center Square) − Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has joined a coalition of Republican attorneys general urging President Donald Trump and War Department Secretary Pete Hegseth to continue “direct and decisive actions” against drug cartels.
They say the Constitution empowers the commander in chief to protect the homeland from cartel-driven violence and fentanyl trafficking.
In a Thursday letter to the White House and the newly rebranded Department of War, the group praises recent federal steps and says Congress should, if needed, “confirm” the president’s authority to act.
“Without question, there is no greater duty placed upon government than the protection of its citizenry,” the attorneys general wrote. “We applaud your recent proper exercise of this authority to protect against violent cartels that are flooding our country with deadly and illegal drugs.”
The officials cite U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s seizure of nearly 22,000 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal year 2024 – “enough fentanyl to kill the entire American population fourteen times over” – and compare fentanyl deaths to total U.S. casualties in World War II.
They say cartel activity is fueling gang violence, human trafficking, and organized retail theft while straining state and local police and public health systems.
“Illegal drugs fueled by the cartels not only increase the workload for law enforcement officers … but expose them to volatile and often dangerous situations,” the letter states.
Murrill’s signature places the state alongside counterparts from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia
The letter frames cartel-driven fentanyl as a national security threat with consequences “everywhere in this country,” from addiction and overdose to the “significant and costly strain on the health care system.”
