US Constitution Sections Removed from Government Website

Constitutional Text Disappears from Official Government Website

Reports have surfaced indicating that portions of Article 1 of the United States Constitution have been removed from the official website of the U.S. government. These observations were initially made by internet users and subsequently confirmed by TechCrunch.

Changes Detected in Recent Weeks

According to records from the Wayback Machine, the alterations occurred within the last month. The complete, original text was still present on Congress’ website as recently as July 17th.

Specific Sections Affected

Multiple discussions on Reddit highlighted the changes within Article 1. Significant portions of Section 8 are now absent, while Sections 9 and 10 have been entirely deleted. An archived version of the site, compared to the current version, clearly shows the removed text highlighted.

Content of Removed Sections

The deleted sections primarily concerned the scope of Congressional powers, outlining both what Congress is authorized to do and what it is prohibited from doing. They also addressed limitations placed on the authority of individual states.

Notably, the removal includes provisions related to habeas corpus, a crucial protection safeguarding citizens against unlawful imprisonment.

Technical Explanation and Correction

A trailing semicolon at the end of Section 8 suggests incomplete text removal, indicating where content once existed.

The Library of Congress addressed the issue via Twitter, attributing the omissions to a “coding error” and stating that a resolution was anticipated shortly.

Further clarification from the Library of Congress revealed the error stemmed from a missing XML tag within the webpage’s code, which has since been rectified.

Legal Implications and White House Response

While the website modification does not alter or impact existing U.S. law, it occurs following earlier statements made by Stephen Miller, a senior official during the Trump administration, regarding potential suspension of habeas corpus.

When contacted for comment, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle deferred to the Library of Congress’ official statement.