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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Key sections of the US Constitution deleted from government's website
Several sections of Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution appear to have been removed from the official U.S. government website, as pointed out by sleuths on the internet and as seen by TechCrunch. The changes were made in the past month, according to the Wayback Machine, which shows the full original text on Congress' website as of July 17. Several Reddit threads identified the changes in Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution: Large parts of Section 8 have been removed, and Sections 9 and 10 have been deleted altogether. In the screenshot below, you can see the archived version of the site on the Wayback Machine on the left, and the current site on the right — the text highlighted in yellow has been removed. These sections largely relate to the powers that Congress has and does not have, as well as limitations on the powers of individual states. The removal includes sections relating to habeas corpus, the powers that protect citizens from unlawful detention. Some of the sections' text appears to be missing, as indicated by a trailing semicolon at the end of Section 8, where text used to follow. In a tweet posted on Wednesday, the Library of Congress said the sections were missing 'due to a coding error' and expect it to be 'resolved soon.' When contacted by TechCrunch, a spokesperson for the Library of Congress did not say what caused the coding error, or how it was introduced. Changing the U.S. Constitution's text on the website does not change or have any effect on U.S. law, but it nevertheless follows senior Trump administration official Stephen Miller's threats earlier this year to suspend habeas corpus. When reached by TechCrunch, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle declined to comment beyond the Library of Congress' post. Updated with more details from the Library of Congress, and with a response from the White House. Sign in to access your portfolio
New York Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Part of Constitution vanishes from government website due to ‘error'
The virtual Constitution got an unexpected amendment Wednesday. Portions of Article I, Section 8 and all of Section 9 and 10 vanished from the government's official Constitution Annotated website, a snafu the Library of Congress — which maintains the site — blamed on a 'coding error.' Those provisions of the founding document notably pertain to habeas corpus, protection against detention without due process; and the emoluments clause, which restricts government officials from receiving unsanctioned foreign gifts. The missing sections were back online as of 2 p.m. ET, the Library of Congress confirmed. 'Upkeep of Constitution Annotated and other digital resources is a critical part of the Library's mission, and we appreciate the feedback that alerted us to the error and allowed us to fix it,' a rep said in a statement. 3 The Constitution Annotated had key sections of the Constitution missing before the Library of Congress fixed the issue Wednesday. 3 The sections that vanished dealt with gifts from foreign countries and habeas corpus. jaflippo – It was not immediately clear what caused the 'coding error,' which appeared to have happened sometime after July 17, according to screen captures on Wayback Machine. Tech whizzes briefly tacked on a banner on the website that said, 'The Constitution Annotated website is currently experiencing data issues. We are working to resolve this issue and regret the inconvenience.' Liberal critics of President Trump have long highlighted Sections 8, 9 and 10 while attacking his policies of shipping migrants off to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison complex and benefiting from gifts such as a jumbo jet from Qatar. The website features an annotations tool that lets users explore the historical meaning and legal implications of a given section. 3 Other government websites with the Constitution did not appear to be affected. Photography by Jack – Article I, Section 8 lays out Congress' authority to collect taxes, raise an army and navy, regulate commerce and establish a national currency. Section 9, which was wholly erased, dealt with habeas corpus and emoluments, while Section 10 imposes limits on states — such as preventing them from entering treaties with foreign nations and establishing their own currencies. Other federal websites hosting digital copies of the founding documents, such as the one run by the National Archives and Records Administration, appear to have been untouched. The National Archives Building in Washington, DC, houses the original copy of the Constitution as well as a copy of the Declaration of Independence and other venerated documents.
Axios
4 days ago
- Politics
- Axios
Library of Congress blames "coding error" for missing sections of online Constitution
The Library of Congress on Wednesday pointed to an unspecified "coding error" that led to key parts of the U.S. Constitution being deleted from the Constitution Annotated website. Why it matters: The missing sections included foundational provisions, such as the right to habeas corpus — which protects people from unlawful detention — and the foreign emoluments clause. Those constitutional principles have risen to the forefront of political and legal debate amid the president's immigration crackdown and foreign dealings. As of Wednesday afternoon, most of Article I Section 8 had been restored, but Sections 9 and 10 appeared to still be missing. Driving the news: As highlighted by tech news site TechCrunch, an archived version of the website shows that a chunk of Article I Section 8 was cut, in addition to the entirety of Sections 9 and 10 of Article I. According to captures from the Wayback Machine, those sections were present as recently as mid-July. What they're saying: " It has been brought to our attention that some sections of Article 1 are missing from the Constitution Annotated ...website," the Library of Congress said in a statement posted to social media. "We've learned that this is due to a coding error." A banner across the top of the site read, "The Constitution Annotated website is currently experiencing data issues. We are working to resolve this issue and regret the inconvenience." Links for certain provisions included in those sections, such as Section 9's text on ex post facto laws, directed to an error page that read "Page Not Found" with a portrait of George Washington. That page appears to have since been restored. The Library of Congress did not immediately respond to Axios' request for further information. Context: The text of Article I Section 8, which outlines congressional powers, trailed off after enumerating Congress' power to "To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years." Rather than continuing to the next line, "To provide and maintain a Navy;" the section ended abruptly on a semicolon. The Militia Clauses, among others that follow in Section 8, were also missing as of early Wednesday afternoon. Zoom out: Article I Section 9, which places limits on congressional power, and Section 10, which covers powers denied to the states, had also vanished. One critical clause of Section 9 is the right of habeas corpus, which reads, "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." Stephen Miller, the president's top policy adviser, said in May that the White House was exploring the option of suspending habeas corpus amid its fight against judges curtailing its deportation push. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem botched questions about the legal principle at a Senate hearing in May, falsely asserting habeas corpus gives the president a "constitutional right" to conduct deportations.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Govt. Website ‘Glitch' Removes Trump's Least Favorite Part of Constitution
Donald Trump is still trying to take over the Library of Congress — but the national library has already, apparently by accident, modified its online copy of the U.S. Constitution to remove the president's least favorite part: the provision that guarantees people's right to challenge their detention and demands the government justify their confinement. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has publicly floated the idea of suspending habeas corpus to aid the president's efforts to arrest and deport immigrants: 'The writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion, so that is an option we're actively looking at,' Miller said in May. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who's helping lead Trump's mass deportation campaign, tried to claim that month that habeas corpus is 'a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country' — which is effectively the opposite of what habeas corpus means. Earlier in the month, Trump was asked about due process, and whether as president he has an obligation to uphold the Constitution. 'I don't know,' he replied. Within the past few weeks, Section 9 from Article 1 of the Constitution — which states, 'The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it' — disappeared from the Library of Congress' Constitution Annotated webpage. By Wednesday morning, officials in Trump's government were quietly telling staff that the deletions were the result of a technical 'glitch,' sources familiar with the matter say. As a result, personnel scrambled to fix the issue, figure out how exactly it happened, and also review other parts of the website to see if there were any other conspicuous deletions. Some federal staffers raised their eyebrows at the blame-a-glitch explanation, given the apparently coincidental nature of the deletions affecting sections of the Constitution that the second Trump administration is openly working so hard to shred. The Library of Congress posted on X Wednesday morning that the deletion was the result of a 'coding error.' 'It has been brought to our attention that some sections of Article 1 are missing from the Constitution Annotated website,' the library wrote. 'We've learned that this is due to a coding error. We have been working to correct this and expect it to be resolved soon.' The website now has a banner stating: 'The Constitution Annotated website is currently experiencing data issues. We are working to resolve this issue and regret the inconvenience.' 'Funny coincidence,' one federal employee dealing with this situation tells Rolling Stone dryly. It should be noted that simply deleting sections of the U.S. Constitution on a webpage — for an institution that isn't even the official custodian of the Constitution — doesn't change American law. But no matter what the document does or doesn't say, the president and his senior appointees have made clear their intention to violate the Constitution as best they can. The modification to the Constitution website comes as Trump attempts to seize control of the Library of Congress — even though the agency is technically part of the legislative branch. It functions as Congress' research arm, while also maintaining the world's largest collection of books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, and recordings. In May, Trump announced he was firing Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress, before the end of her 10-year term, and he moved to replace her with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as Trump's personal attorney. After a judge refused to block Hayden's termination, she filed an appeal last week to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. More from Rolling Stone What's Going on With the Gerrymandering Chaos in Texas? 'Defending Paradise': Julia Louis-Dreyfus Takes on Big Oil in California How the Epstein Files Blew Up a Pro-Trump AI Bot Network on X Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
The Verge
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Verge
Parts of the Constitution were deleted from the government's website in a ‘coding error.'
Posted Aug 6, 2025 at 5:03 PM UTC Parts of the Constitution were deleted from the government's website in a 'coding error.' As TechCrunch notes, the change apparently happened sometime over the past month and included 'sections relating to habeas corpus, the powers that protect citizens from unlawful detention.' The Library of Congress says things should be 'resolved soon.' Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. Adi Robertson Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Adi Robertson Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Policy
