UPDATE: An online petition calling for Texas to secede from the Union has gained enough signatures to prompt a response from the White House.
According to The Hill, The White House has pledged to provide a formal response to all petitions on “We the People,” – the White House’s website for petitions – that receive more than 25,000 signatures within 30 days.
Petitions to secede have been filed by citizens from over 20 states, but the Texas petition was the first to pass the threshold for a formal response, hitting the 27,000 signature mark on Monday.
The petition does not explicitly cite President Obama’s reelection as a reason to secede, but claims the nation continues to suffer because of the “federal government’s neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending.”
The petition claims that American citizens are suffering “blatant abuses of their rights,” pointing to the Transportation Security Administration and the National Defense Authorization Act, which allows for indefinite detention of terror suspects.
The petition cites Texas’s large economy and claims that it would be “practically feasible” for the state to secede.
