Texas Republican Bryan Slaton has introduced legislation that would allow the state of Texas to “investigate the possibility” of seceding from the United States. If the proposal is approved, a vote on whether to consider leaving the Union will be held.
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The bill, which was posted on Twitter by state representative Slaton on Monday, is officially known as the ‘Texas Independence Referendum Act,’ or ‘Texit’ for short. If it passes, a referendum on whether Texas “should reassert its independence” will be held on November 7, 2023.
“All political power resides in the people,” Slaton wrote, citing the Texas constitution. “It is time to end the federal government’s decades-long abuse of our rights and liberties.”
He introduced a similar bill in 2021 with fellow Republicans Kyle Biedermann and Jeff Cason, who warned at the time that the bill was not a call for secession, but rather a “dialogue” on the subject. That first proposal, however, “failed to receive a hearing and died,” according to Slaton.
On Twitter, the Texas Nationalist Movement greeted the news by calling Slaton “our friend” and urging Texans to contact their representatives in support of the bill.
The movement promised in another post that a so-called Texit could “open possibilities that we’ve never even dreamed of.”
However, not all Republicans support the idea. Slaton’s bill was slammed by fellow state representative Jeff Leach. “This ridiculous bill exemplifies hypocritical and seditious treason.”
The bill comes after prominent Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene called for a “national divorce” in February, saying that the United States “needs to separate by red [Republican] states and blue [Democratic] states.”
The growing schism was confirmed last month by pollster Jeremy Zogby, who told conservative outlet the Washington Examiner that the idea of a breakup had received “staggering support…across all demographics.”
Texas is not the only state in the United States where certain groups are fighting for independence. Alaska, California, Hawaii, New Hampshire, and Vermont, among other states, have secession movements.
