Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott tweeted a bodacious claim that he was “asserting Texas sovereignty under the 10th Amendment,” a bold statement that means very little.
I just signed a Resolution asserting Texas sovereignty under the 10th Amendment over all powers not granted to the federal government by the US Constitution.
The Resolution officially notifies the President & Congress to cease acts of encroaching upon the powers of states.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 15, 2021
The 10th Amendment of the US Constitution states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The problem with Abbott’s claim: He cannot unilaterally decide what the federal government can do.
The US Constitution provides for Congress to make laws as it sees fit, and its powers are broad. The resolution Abbott signed does not have any authority to limit any power of Congress.
Interestingly, Abbott doesn’t disown other Congressional powers, like providing emergency funding for a state that, say, suffers a massive power outage because of regulatory mismanagement or strife from natural disasters like hurricanes. He also doesn’t disown the Texas government’s potentially illegal interventions in county election management.