On January 31, 2025, Mr. Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to release millions of gallons of water from Northern California dams “Fire and Flood: Federal Interference Wastes California’s Water Resources”
Category: Issues
Parent Category for policy areas (e.g. Environment)
California Focus: Will Trump Moves Boost California Secession Sentiment?
Thomas Elias: For every action, says one principle of both physics and politics, there is a reaction. So when President Donald Trump threatened to put conditions on disaster aid in the wake of California’s unprecedented January firestorms, there was a reaction.
Courthouse News: Breaking up is hard to do: California secession movement pushes forward on ballot question
Alan Riquelmy: A poll released this month and commissioned by the Independent California Institute — which stated that its first principle is for California to become a “fully functioning sovereign and autonomous nation” — offers some support for secessionists.
According to the poll, 61% of respondents said the state would be better off if it peacefully seceded, and 63% supported using “hardball” tactics to gain autonomy.
Connecting California: Did the L.A. Fires Start in D.C?
Joe Mathews: The flames that leveled Pacific Palisades and Malibu are believed to have started in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, managed by the National Park Service. (That’s you!).
The blaze that turned Altadena to ash burned through the Angeles National Forest, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, which is part of the United States (you again!) Department of Agriculture.
Press Release: 66% of Californians want an autonomy commission. It shouldn’t take an initiative to get them one.
Carlsbad, CA: 61% of Californians said they would be better off California if peacefully seceded from the U.S. at some point in the next ten years, in a poll conducted in the weeks before Inauguration Day. This is the highest favorability towards secession ever recorded in a California poll.
CalMatters: If California split from the US and became a nation, it would be comparable to Canada
Legendary California reporter Dan Walters covers our poll for CalMatters:
The transcontinental sniping raises an old question: Could California sever ties with the United States and once again become an independent country? The San Diego County-based Independent California Institute thinks so.
Poll fact sheet: YOU ARE NOT ALONE
A very simple fact sheet with highlights from the January 2025 Independent California Poll. Perfect for printing and distributing at rallies, farmer’s markets, and other “Poll fact sheet: YOU ARE NOT ALONE”
Press Release: On Eve of Trump Inauguration, Californians Eye Secession
Carlsbad, CA: 61% of Californians said they would be better off California if peacefully seceded from the U.S. at some point in the next ten years, in a poll conducted in the weeks before Inauguration Day. This is the highest favorability towards secession ever recorded in a California poll.
Poll: As Trump Is Inaugurated, Californians Seek Independence
Highlights: 61% of Californians polled say California would be better off if it peacefully seceded. 77% say California should control its state borders “more like a country”. 63% support using hardball tactics in the U.S. House to gain autonomy. Californians now feel more Californian than American overall.
Please submit press inquiries to press@ic.institute.
Democracy Local: How to Achieve Local Autonomy
Fully 68% of Californians believe that California would be better off if California negotiated a special autonomous status within the U.S., according to a poll that my think tank, the Independent California Institute, commissioned from YouGov earlier this year…. Why might Californians want more independence from the federal government?