'#Texit': A Texas state lawmaker says he will propose a referendum on seceding from the US because the 'federal government is out of control'

• A Texas state lawmaker announced this week that he planned to propose a referendum on whether the state should secede from the US.
• "The federal government is out of control and does not represent the values of Texans," Rep. Kyle Biedermann, a Republican, said.
• State Republicans and Democrats have criticized the proposal.

A Texas state lawmaker announced this week that he planned to propose a referendum on the state seceding from the US.

"The federal government is out of control and does not represent the values of Texans," State Rep. Kyle Biedermann, a Republican representing the greater San Antonio area since 2017, wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

"That is why I am committing to file legislation this session that will allow a referendum to give Texans a vote for the State of Texas to reassert its status as an independent nation," he added, along with the hashtag #Texit.

Talks around secession resurface every so often in Texas, but modern efforts to leave the union have not been successful. The state previously broke off from the country and joined the Confederate States of America in 1861. But after the Civil War, the Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. White that no state was legally allowed to secede.

The secession movement in Texas last gained momentum in 2016 after the United Kingdom's referendum to leave the European Union, commonly known as Brexit. Biedermann compared his proposal to Brexit in an interview with the local station Fox 7 on Thursday.

"The things that are happening in the federal government, whether it be our First Amendment rights, our Second Amendment rights, the budget and the debt going out of sight," Biedermann told Fox 7. "And then the fact that we might even be looking at Texas being singled out about our oil and gas industry - we just can't afford to stay silent."

Biedermann signaled he would use Article 1 Section 2 of the state's constitution to support his proposal, which reads: "The faith of the people of Texas stands pledged to the preservation of a republican form of government, and, subject to this limitation only, they have at all times the inalienable right to alter, reform or abolish their government in such manner as they may think expedient.'"

The GOP lawmaker said he intended to introduce the bill next year, though other state Republicans have already signaled they do not support his plans.

"America needs Texas to lead, not secede," Texas Republican Party Chairman Allen West said in a statement to Insider.

Texas recently seized the national spotlight because of Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton's legal challenge to overturn the 2020 presidential-election results in President Donald Trump's favor. The Supreme Court is unlikely to consider the case, which seeks to invalidate votes in key battleground states won by President-elect Joe Biden.

"It is certainly understandable that people are frustrated with the situation after months of a pandemic and concerns they may have about the integrity of the election, but the solution isn't to dissolve or detach from the greatest nation in history," Republican House Speaker Dennis Bonnen told Insider. "Instead, Texas needs to take care of Texas and continue to lead the nation by example with legislation that continues to pursue economic strength and freedom."

Biedermann did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

State Democrats have similarly shut down the idea, according to The Dallas Morning News.

"You can't claim to be patriotic and file a bill for Texas to secede from the union," Abhi Rahman, a spokesperson for the Texas Democratic Party, told the newspaper. "From Ken Paxton to Greg Abbott to Kyle Biedermann, Texas Republicans are supporting treason."

The Texas Nationalist Movement, a pro-secession group, has sent Biedermann its nod of approval, saying, "Texans are one step closer to having their voices heard on the issue of Texas independence."