Last week, five counties in eastern Oregon voted to consider seceding from the state to join neighboring Idaho, which voters said aligns more closely with their conservative values than the dominant liberal views of the Beaver State, which has voted blue in every presidential election since 1988.
The development is the latest crescendo of the efforts of Move Oregon's Border for a Greater Idaho, which has spearheaded the initiatives to join eastern Oregon and parts of northern California to expand Idaho.
Head petitioner for the initiative, Mike McCarter, said of the news:
"This election proves that rural Oregon wants out of Oregon. If Oregon really believes in liberal values such as self-determination, the Legislature won't hold our counties captive against our will. If we're allowed to vote for which government officials we want, we should be allowed to vote for which government we want as well."
Even with voters favoring the effort, joining these counties with Idaho would require the approval of both the Oregon and Idaho state legislatures along with the United States Congress, which is currently majority-Democrat.
Republican Congresswoman and prominent conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia took to Twitter to praise the efforts to secede from the state.
She questionably claimed that far more people are "talking about" secession because of "how fast Biden is blowing it." After giving the secession efforts her blessing, Greene said "#AmericaFirst is the only way."
Her praise wasn't well received by social media users, including some of her colleagues in Congress.
More and more people are calling for Greene to be disciplined by Republican leadership, with some advocating for her expulsion from Congress.
Greene was already stripped of her committee assignments earlier this year for expressing support of the execution of her now-colleagues before her run for office.
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