# Marco Rubio — "dismantle the ICC—brick by brick" > [!quote] "Using all the tools at our government's disposal, working beside every ally with whom we can make common cause, we will dismantle the ICC—brick by brick, if necessary." > — [[Marco Rubio]], Secretary of State, *Wall Street Journal* op-ed, **13 July 2026** ## Context Rubio announced a **"whole-of-government" campaign** against the [[International Criminal Court]], with reported instruments including travel bans, visa revocations, sanctions, and pressure on allied governments to withdraw from the court. His stated justification was exposure of American personnel — Border Patrol agents, military members, and federal prosecutors — to ICC prosecution. This escalates a long-standing American posture. The United States "unsigned" the Rome Statute in 2002 and passed the American Service-Members' Protection Act; sanctions were imposed on ICC officials under [[Executive Order 14203]]. What is new is the stated objective: not immunity from the court, but the **elimination of the court**. ## Why This Matters **The verb is the whole quote.** Previous American policy sought exemption — that US personnel not be subject to ICC jurisdiction. "Dismantle" is a different objective, and it applies to an institution that continues to have jurisdiction over other countries' nationals whether or not the United States participates. That distinction matters for how the vault reads the [[US Treaty and Organization Withdrawal Timeline]]. Withdrawal removes a country from an institution. **A campaign to destroy the institution asserts a right to determine whether it exists for anyone**, which is a claim about the international order rather than about American obligations within it. The phrase "brick by brick" also invites the obvious rejoinder, which critics made immediately: what actually comes apart brick by brick is American credibility as a treaty partner and allied confidence in a rules-based order the United States built. ## Verification Verbatim from the op-ed as quoted across CNN, Just Security, and The National, all dated 13 July 2026. The HCR 07-31 proposal listed this as an unverified quote receipt; **it is confirmed.** ## See Also - [[Marco Rubio]] · [[International Criminal Court]] - [[Rome Statute]] · [[Executive Order 14203]] - [[US Treaty and Organization Withdrawal Timeline]] — the wider withdrawal sequence - [[Geneva Conventions]] · [[International Law Hub]]