Can Texas actually secede from the United States? – By Brooke Kushwaha (Chron) / Feb 11, 2024
Texas Republicans are increasingly floating the “S” word in protest of federal oversight. But is Texas secession actually feasible?
Secession. It’s the word on the tip of every Republican’s tongue and a slogan stuck to the bumper of every new-model Ford F150. Former Texas governor Rick Perry first reignited the the conversation when he floated the possibility of a Lone Star State secession during a Tea Party rally in 2009. His suggestion that Texas “can leave any time we want,” was widely laughed off, dismissed, and later even met with outrage.
While Perry eventually backpedaled on those comments in his lead up to a 2012 presidential run, the message was clear: Texas’ independent spirit cannot and will not be killed. Since 2003, schoolchildren have pledged their allegiance each morning to the Lone Star flag alongside America’s star-spangled banner. What difference would it make to switch out one for the other?
Since Perry’s comments, secession has gone from an offhand comment to an increasingly popular Republican party pick-up line, even making it onto the official Texas Republican Convention platform in 2022. Most recently, Governor Greg Abbott suggested the nuclear option in his immigration standoff with feds at the border town of Eagle Pass. Fed up with what he sees as the Biden administration’s too-soft approach on immigration, an “invasion” of his state as Abbott call its, he joined a lengthening roster of Republicans now calling for an independent Texas.
CONTINUE > https://www.chron.com/politics/article/can-texas-secede-from-us-18660969.php
