Constitution deleted: Web glitch erases part at odds with White House policy
Kelsey Reichmann
WASHINGTON (CN) — Sections of the Constitution that top Trump administration officials previously suggested be suspended disappeared from the Library of Congress’ online copy of the document on Wednesday.
Text from Article I Section 8, and the entirety of Sections 9 and 10 were absent from the official U.S. government website. The key provisions detail legislative branch authorities, including the writ of habeas corpus.
Habeas corpus is the legal procedure that allows individuals in custody to challenge the legality of their detention. The right has been an obstacle as the Trump administration attempts to carry out mass deportations.
In May, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller suggested doing away with it altogether, at least for the time being.
“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 then. “It depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”
A few hours after the social media users began posting about the deletion, the Library of Congress stated that the missing text was due to a coding error.
“It has been brought to our attention that some sections of Article 1 are missing from the Constitution Annotated (https://constitution.congress.gov) website,” officials posted on the library’s X account. “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 Library of Congress did not respond to questions regarding the origin of the error.
Vying for control of the library, President Donald Trump abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden in May. Trump installed his former personal lawyer and current deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, in her stead.
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library with over 178.2 million cataloged items, over 3,000 employees and 1.6 million yearly visitors. It is also the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office.
Trump’s control over the library presents separation of powers concerns, giving the White House access to congressional data, including confidential dealings with the Congressional Research Service.
The White House did not answer questions about the glitch.
Sections 8, 9 and 10 were still missing as of Wednesday afternoon. The Library of Congress did not provide details on when the corrections would be made.