The Texas Constitution and the U.S. Constitution share the same foundations — popular sovereignty, three branches of government, a written bill of rights, and a bicameral legislature — but the similarities and differences between the Texas and U.S. Constitutions come down to one thing: how much the document trusts government to fill in the blanks. The federal Constitution runs about 7,600 words and has been amended 27 times since 1788. The Texas Constitution runs past 85,000 words and has been amended more than 530 times since 1876. That gap is not an accident. The federal document grants broad authority and lets elected officials work out the details. The Texas document writes the details directly into the text.
What Both Constitutions Have in Common
Start with the overlap, because it is real. Both rest on popular sovereignty: government authority comes from the consent of the people. Both establish limited government through written rules and enumerated rights. Both divide power among legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with each branch holding tools to check the others. Both create bicameral legislatures where two chambers must agree before a bill becomes law. And both are written documents that citizens can read, cite, and use to hold officials accountable.
The two documents are not equals, though. Article VI of the U.S. Constitution declares federal law “the supreme Law of the Land” and binds state judges to it regardless of anything in a state’s own constitution.1Library of Congress. Article VI – Clause 2 – Supreme Law The Texas Constitution operates freely where federal law is silent. Where the two conflict, the federal document wins. Texas can grant its residents more rights than the U.S. Constitution requires. It cannot grant them fewer.
Length, Detail, and How Often They Change
The most visible difference is size. The U.S. Constitution, including all 27 amendments, is roughly 7,600 words.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Constitution of the United States of America – 1787 It paints in broad strokes, setting up structures and principles and leaving Congress and the courts to work out the rest. The Texas Constitution is more than ten times longer and wades into policy details that in most states would be handled by ordinary legislation. Provisions govern topics as narrow as hospital district boundaries and specific fund allocations.
That level of detail creates a constant need for updates. Through November 2023, the Texas Legislature had proposed 714 amendments, and voters had approved 530 of them.3Texas Legislative Council. Analyses of Proposed Constitutional Amendments, 89th Legislature (2025) Amendments appear on the ballot in most Texas election cycles. The U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times in more than two centuries.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Constitution of the United States of America – 1787 There is also a structural reason for the difference. The federal Constitution contains the Necessary and Proper Clause, which gives Congress implied powers to pass laws beyond what is explicitly listed. The Texas Constitution has no equivalent. When Texas lawmakers want to address a new problem, they often have to change the constitution itself rather than simply pass a statute.
How Each Document Gets Amended
The difficulty of amending each text explains most of the gap in amendment counts. To amend the U.S. Constitution, both chambers of Congress must approve by a two-thirds vote, and then three-fourths of the states (currently 38 of 50) must ratify.4National Archives. Constitutional Amendment Process That is an extraordinarily high bar.
Amending the Texas Constitution is far easier. A proposed amendment needs a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the Texas Legislature, then goes to voters in a statewide election. A simple majority of those who vote on the question is enough to adopt it.5Texas Legislative Council. Analyses of Proposed Constitutional Amendments No other states are involved. No supermajority of voters is required. The process resembles passing a ballot measure more than the federal amendment process, and the numbers show it.
The Executive Branch: One President, Many Texas Officials
The U.S. Constitution concentrates executive power in a single person. Article II opens with a blunt line: “The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.”6Cornell Law School. Article II, U.S. Constitution The President appoints cabinet members and can remove most of them at will. It is a unified chain of command.
Texas took the opposite approach. The Texas Constitution splits executive authority across several independently elected officials: the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Commissioner of the General Land Office, and Attorney General. The Secretary of State is the exception, appointed by the Governor rather than elected.7State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 4 – Executive Department This “plural executive” means the Governor cannot fire the Attorney General or the Comptroller over a policy disagreement. Each official answers to the voters who elected them. The arrangement intentionally weakens the Governor.
Line-Item Veto
One area where the Texas Governor has more power than the President is the line-item veto. When the legislature passes an appropriations bill, the Governor can strike individual spending items while signing the rest into law.8State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 4 – Executive Department The legislature can override a line-item veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber, but it rarely happens. The U.S. President has no line-item veto. Congress attempted to grant one in 1996, and the Supreme Court struck it down in Clinton v. City of New York (1998).
The Legislative Branch: Session Limits and Pay
Both legislatures have two chambers, but the Texas Legislature operates under tighter constraints. Regular sessions happen only once every two years, in odd-numbered years, and last no more than 140 calendar days.9State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 3 – Legislative Department The U.S. Congress meets annually with no fixed session limit.
Special sessions in Texas can only be called by the Governor. The Governor also controls the agenda: lawmakers in a special session can only take up subjects the Governor has designated, and each session is capped at 30 days.9State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 3 – Legislative Department This gives the Governor significant leverage even though the office is otherwise weak by design.
The pay difference is enormous. The Texas Constitution fixes legislator salaries at $600 per month, or $7,200 per year, plus a per diem of $221 for each day of a legislative session.10Texas Ethics Commission. Legislative Per Diem That $600 figure is written directly into the constitution, so raising it requires a constitutional amendment approved by voters. Members of the U.S. Congress receive $174,000 per year.11Congress.gov. Congressional Salaries and Allowances: In Brief The Texas salary makes the legislature a part-time job by design.
The Judicial Branch: Elected Judges and Two High Courts
The federal and Texas judicial systems differ in two fundamental ways: how judges are selected and how the highest courts are organized.
Selection and Tenure
Federal judges are nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and serve for life. Article III says judges “shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour,” which in practice means they can only be removed through impeachment. The insulation from elections is meant to let judges make unpopular decisions without fear of losing their jobs.
Texas elects its judges. Every level of the judiciary, from justices of the peace to the state’s two highest courts, is filled by popular vote. Supreme Court justices and Court of Criminal Appeals judges serve six-year terms; district judges serve four. When a vacancy opens mid-term, the Governor appoints a replacement who serves until the next general election.12State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 5 – Judicial Department
Two High Courts
The federal system has a single Supreme Court that handles every type of case. Texas is one of only two states (with Oklahoma) that splits its highest appellate authority between two courts: the Texas Supreme Court for civil and juvenile matters, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for criminal cases.13American Bar Association. Bifurcated Appellate Review: The Texas Story of Two High Courts Each court has nine members and operates independently. Criminal law and civil law in Texas can develop along separate tracks, with no single court to resolve tensions between the two.
Individual Rights
Both constitutions protect individual rights, and both use a bill of rights to do it. But the placement, style, and coverage differ.
The federal Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments, adopted in 1791, and covers broad freedoms like speech, religion, the press, and protection against unreasonable searches.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Constitution of the United States of America – 1787 The protections are written in general terms and have been shaped over centuries of federal court decisions.
The Texas Bill of Rights occupies Article 1 of the Texas Constitution, placing it before any discussion of government structure.14State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 1 – Bill of Rights The 1876 framers wanted to signal that rights come before government power. The Texas version also goes into far more detail on many topics.
Victims’ Rights
The U.S. Constitution does not mention crime victims. The Texas Constitution dedicates an entire section to them, granting victims the right to be treated with fairness and respect, the right to reasonable protection from the accused, and the right to information about the conviction, sentence, imprisonment, and release of the accused.14State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 1 – Bill of Rights Embedding these rights in the constitution gives them stronger legal standing than a statute would.
Property Rights and Eminent Domain
Both constitutions require the government to pay fair compensation when it takes private property for public use. The Texas Constitution goes further, specifying that property cannot be “taken, damaged or destroyed for or applied to public use” without adequate compensation.15Justia. Texas Constitution Art 1 – Sec 17 – Taking, Damaging, or Destroying Property for Public Use The word “damaged” matters. Under federal law, compensation is required only when the government takes property outright. Under Texas law, compensation can also be required when government action damages property without actually taking it.
The “Supreme Being” Clause
Both constitutions prohibit religious tests for public office. The Texas Constitution contains a notable exception: it says no one can be excluded from holding office based on religious views, “provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being.”16State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 1 – Bill of Rights, Sec 4 – Religious Tests The provision is almost certainly unenforceable because it conflicts with the First Amendment as applied to the states through the Fourteenth. It remains in the text as a historical artifact.
Money, Budgets, and Education
One of the starkest differences is how each document handles government finances. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to tax and borrow without a balanced-budget requirement. The federal debt ceiling is a creation of ordinary legislation, not a constitutional mandate.
Texas takes a much harder line. Article 3, Section 49a prohibits the legislature from appropriating more money than the Comptroller of Public Accounts certifies will be available in the relevant funds.9State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 3 – Legislative Department The only exception requires a four-fifths vote of both chambers declaring an emergency. Texas operates on a pay-as-you-go basis, and the Comptroller’s revenue estimate sets a hard ceiling on state spending each session.
Education is another divide. The Texas Constitution devotes Article 7 to public education, requiring the legislature to maintain a system of free public schools and creating the Permanent School Fund, an endowment whose investment returns help finance public education. The U.S. Constitution says nothing about education, leaving it entirely to the states under the Tenth Amendment.17Library of Congress. Tenth Amendment
Local Government and Home Rule
The U.S. Constitution never mentions cities, counties, or local governments. The Tenth Amendment reserves powers not granted to the federal government “to the States respectively, or to the people,” which means local government is entirely a state-level creation.17Library of Congress. Tenth Amendment
The Texas Constitution devotes an entire article to municipal government. Article 11 allows any city with more than 5,000 residents to adopt a home-rule charter, giving it broad power to govern its own affairs so long as the charter does not conflict with state law.18State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 11 – Municipal Corporations Home-rule cities can levy taxes (capped at 2.5 percent of taxable property value), issue debt with voter approval, and set their own officer terms up to four years. Smaller cities operate under “general law” with more limited powers defined by the legislature. Nothing at the federal level looks like this.
Impeachment
Both constitutions give the lower chamber the power to impeach and the senate the power to conduct the trial, and both require a two-thirds vote of senators present to convict. The grounds differ. The U.S. Constitution limits impeachment to “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” The Texas Constitution does not specify particular grounds, leaving the Texas House broader discretion. Texas also allows the Governor to remove judges on a two-thirds address of both chambers for offenses that fall below the impeachment threshold, such as neglect of duty or habitual drunkenness.19State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 15 – Impeachment
Judgment in Texas impeachment cases is limited to removal from office and disqualification from holding future state office.19State of Texas. Texas Constitution Article 15 – Impeachment The same is true at the federal level. Criminal prosecution, if warranted, happens separately in both systems.
Why the Two Documents Look So Different
The Texas Constitution of 1876 was written by delegates who had just lived through Reconstruction and the highly centralized administration of Governor Edmund J. Davis. They wanted to prevent that kind of concentrated power from happening again. Short terms, low salaries, restricted legislative sessions, executive power scattered across multiple elected offices, hard fiscal limits, and specific policies written directly into the text: every structural quirk traces back to that impulse.
The U.S. Constitution was drafted in 1787 by framers with the opposite worry. They believed the national government under the Articles of Confederation was too weak. Their document created a flexible framework and trusted Congress and the courts to fill in details over time. The two constitutions still function together every day, but they were built to solve different problems, and reading them side by side makes that plain.