Vice President Vance Tells Conservatives to Use Federal Authority Without Apology

Vice President JD Vance delivered a message to conservatives on Wednesday that should have been obvious years ago: Republicans need to stop being afraid of using federal power when the left has already weaponized it for decades.

Speaking at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Mississippi, Vance responded to a question about whether Republicans risk abusing federal authority if they govern aggressively. His answer cut through the typical conservative hand-wringing that has paralyzed the right for far too long.

“We cannot be afraid to do something because the left might do it in the future,” Vance stated plainly. “The left is already going to do it, regardless of whether we do it. That is the takeaway of the last 40 years.”

Here are the facts: The left has spent decades expanding federal power, weaponizing law enforcement agencies, and using the administrative state as a cudgel against political opponents. The idea that Republicans should unilaterally disarm out of some misguided principle while Democrats continue their assault on constitutional governance is not principled conservatism. It is political suicide.

Vance sarcastically framed his response by asking what would happen if Joe Biden sent the Federal Bureau of Investigation to arrest political opponents. The sarcasm, of course, highlights the reality that this already happened. The Trump administration faced multiple criminal investigations and indictments that many legal scholars view as politically motivated prosecutions designed to prevent Donald Trump from returning to office.

The Trump administration has deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Memphis, with plans to send forces to as many as 19 states to support immigration enforcement and combat violent crime. This is not an abuse of power. This is the proper use of federal authority to protect American citizens from lawlessness.

Vance made this point explicitly. “If Joe Biden wanted to deploy the National Guard to a red state in a place where the murder rate was twice what it is in third-world countries to actually go after murderers, that would be a great use of the National Guard,” he said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think Joe Biden would use it like that.”

That statement reveals the fundamental difference between how the left and right approach federal power. The left uses government authority to advance ideological goals, silence dissent, and punish political enemies. The right, when it finally uses federal power, does so to restore law and order, protect constitutional rights, and defend American sovereignty.

Vance continued: “What I’m worried about, frankly, is what the far left already did with American law enforcement, and that is the thing we have to prevent against.”

This is the correct framework. The question is not whether Republicans should use federal power. The question is whether they will use it to restore constitutional order or whether they will continue allowing the left to weaponize government institutions against ordinary Americans.

For too long, conservatives have operated under the delusion that restraint would be rewarded with similar restraint from the opposition. The evidence proves otherwise. The Obama administration weaponized the Internal Revenue Service against conservative nonprofits. The Biden administration prosecuted parents at school board meetings as domestic terrorists and launched investigations into political opponents.

The Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard forces to combat crime and enforce immigration law represents a return to the basic functions of government: protecting citizens and securing borders. These are not controversial uses of federal authority. They are constitutional obligations.

Vance’s message to conservatives is simple and correct: Stop apologizing for using power to advance legitimate governmental functions. The left will not reward Republican restraint. They will exploit it.