Republicans Are Dusting Off an Old Anti-Communist Law to Take
A new enemy might require a new playbook, or maybe just dusting off an old one.
So they’re reaching back to a Cold War law to take on cartels and foreign agents. Good. The thing about old statutes is that they were written by people who understood that some enemies don't wear uniforms.
Commentary is separate from the original publisher's reporting.
A new enemy might require a new playbook, or maybe just dusting off an old one.
Georgia Republican Rich McCormick has officially introduced the Communist Control Act of 2026, which would amend the 1954 law of the same name to include the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The measure would place the DSA in the same legal category as the Communist Party of the United States, potentially stripping the organization of certain rights, privileges, and immunities under the decades-old national security law.
I commend @Clay4MainStreet @RepMcCormick @RepKeithSelf and @DHarshbargerTN1 for introducing the Communist Control Act of 2026. It would apply existing anti-communist law to the DSA. Socialism, Communism, and Marxism have no place in the United States.
“The Democratic Socialists of America has told us exactly what it wants to do, and we should believe them,” said Congressman McCormick in an official statement. “They want to rewrite our Constitution and fundamentally restructure the government of the United States. America has confronted this ideology before. We cannot sit back and watch it gain a foothold in our institutions. The Communist Control Act of 2026 makes clear that we will defend our Constitution, our freedoms, and the system of government that has made America the greatest and best country in the world.”
Marxism has left a trail of poverty, famine, and human suffering wherever regimes have imposed it. That’s why I sponsored the Communist Control Act of 2026 and cosponsored the resolution condemning socialism in all its forms. America was built on individual liberty—not government control. I’ll always defend that principle.
Additional co-sponsors of the bill include Rep. Clay Fuller (R-GA), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), and Keith Self (R-TX).
Proud to co-sponsor the Communist Control Act of 2026. The Communist Control Act of 1954 law denied the Communist Party the rights of a normal political party. This bill applies those same rules to the DSA. Communism has no place in the United States.
What the bill would actually accomplish, even if it passed both houses of Congress and received President Trump’s signature, remains unclear. Its stated goal is to treat the DSA like the Communist Party of the United States, but many of the enforcement mechanisms once used against the Communists have been repealed, no longer exist, or would likely face serious legal challenges. The bill could, however, set the stage for renewed court battles and give Congress an opportunity to put the DSA’s agenda under scrutiny.
McCormick certainly got one thing right: the DSA wants to “rewrite our Constitution and fundamentally restructure the government” in ways antithetical to America’s founding principles. That is not merely a political vision, it is a serious threat to the country’s constitutional order, and something must be done to address it.
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
So they’re reaching back to a Cold War law to take on cartels and foreign agents. Good. The thing about old statutes is that they were written by people who understood that some enemies don't wear uniforms. The Smith Act and its cousins were aimed at Communist networks, but the logic was simple: organizations that plot against the United States don't get to hide behind lawyers and nonprofits. That logic didn't expire.
The objections are already predictable. Civil liberties groups will call it a return to McCarthyism. But here's the difference: the communists of the 1950s were a real, funded, coordinated threat, and so are the people running fentanyl across the border or stealing American tech secrets. The playbook still works. The law isn't a relic, it's a tool. What changed is the enemy, not the necessity.
Republicans need to be smart about this, of course. Use it in a targeted way against actual operatives and financiers, not as a cudgel for political vendettas. That means clear evidence, due process, and no guilt by association. The threat is real, but the response has to stay this side of reasonable. If the law is used the way it was meant to be used, it will hold up in court and in public opinion.
This is what being serious about national security looks like. The left will whine about the optics, but Americans care less about the statute's age than about whether the border is secure and the labs are safe. If the tool fits, use it. That's not nostalgia, that's common sense.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.