Something strange is unfolding in Wisconsin. Last month, a local Republican caucus passed a resolution asserting the state’s right to secede from the Union.
The resolution, passed by the caucus of Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District, reads, “Be it further resolved that we strongly insist our state representatives work to uphold Wisconsin’s 10th Amendment rights, and our right to secede, passing legislation affirming this to the U.S. Federal Government.”
By U.S. Supreme Court ruling, no state has the right to secede from the Union without the consent of Congress and agreement from the states. The last known attempt to do so triggered the Civil War.
The strange part of what’s happening in Wisconsin is that much of the state’s GOP is opposed to the notion of secession.
Advocates of secession rights argue that the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — which grants to the states and the people all rights not explicitly enumerated by the Constitution or deemed illegal by the states — affords the states the right to secede, as the Constitution neither prohibits it nor reserves the right to the federal government. On the other hand, opponents of secession — including the Supreme Court — argue that the preamble of the Constitution reserves the right for the federal government to preserve and to protect the Union from any threat, foreign or domestic.
“This particular resolution was brought up from the floor on the day of the caucus; it did not come from the resolutions committee as it was not passed at any 6th District County’s caucus,” wrote Dan Feyen, Republican chairman of the Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District. “It was also the very last resolution taken up after more than three hours of caucusing, and was passed with, approximately, only 25 delegates in support. The Sixth Congressional District is made up of 11 counties and is allotted 822 total delegates for the caucus and the state convention.”
Joe Fadness, executive director of the state’s Republican Party, has came down against secession, and Republican Gov. Scott Walker has distanced himself from the scandalous position, saying, “I don’t think that one aligns with where most Republican officials are in the state of Wisconsin — certainly not with me.”
Despite the tension created by the resolution, it will still be put to a vote at the Republicans’ state convention, which will be held from May 2 to 4 in Milwaukee. Few expect the resolution to get past the convention.
“Each year, hundreds of resolutions are discussed and debated at the local level before being forwarded to the state, and no resolutions have been adopted by the state party at this time,” said Fadness. “All resolutions, which do not always represent the Republican Party of Wisconsin, are nonbinding.”
In 2012, a resolution was suggested to empower state authorities to arrest federal authorities attempting to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in Wisconsin, despite federal supremacy laws that would make such an act a federal felony. The following year, the state’s Democrats adopted a resolution to endorse a proposal for a “death with dignity” law that would allow the terminally ill to commit suicide with self-administered medication. Only Vermont and two other states have such a law.
Resolutions are proposals to the party’s platform, which defines the positions and issues the party will promote in a future election. While the secessionist resolution was bound to fail from its conception, it does reflect the emergence of a more extreme Right in Wisconsin. In the 6th Congressional District, for example, “no confidence” resolutions were forwarded against state Sen. Luther Olsen, R – Ripon, and state Rep. Steve Kestell, R – Elkhart Lake, for supporting the Common Core standards, similar to the resolutions passed in the 2nd and 4th Congressional Districts.
This is not the first time a proposal for Wisconsin secession has been received. After President Obama was reelected, the White House’s petition website received a petition seeking to allow the state to secede.