People checking out the online version of the U.S. Constitution might have noticed something a bit odd earlier this week. Sections of it were missing.
“We apologize for the confusion resulting from the missing content on the Constitution Annotated (CONAN) website today,” said a Wednesday X post from the Library of Congress. “It has been our urgent priority to re-publish the content and determine what happened.”
It went on to explain that the team updating CONAN – an educational tool that provides discussion of the Supreme Court’s latest opinions linked to the text of the Constitution – “inadvertently removed an XML tag,” on Article I, Sections 8-10. XML tags are markup tools used to define data in Extensible Markup Language (XML), a computer programming language supports information exchange between computer systems, per Amazon Web Services.
When the XML tag was removed, it “prevented publication of everything in Article I after the middle of Section 8,” the Library of Congress said. “The problem has been corrected and our updated constitutional analysis is now available. We are taking steps to prevent a recurrence in the future,” it added.
TechCrunch reported on the missing sections this week, citing “several Reddit threads” that identified the changes. In addition to parts of Section 8, the outlet said Sections 9 and 10 were deleted. It compared the altered version of the document to an archived version from July available via the Wayback Machine.
“These sections largely relate to the powers that Congress has and does not have, as well as limitations on the powers of individual states,” said TechCrunch. “The removal includes sections relating to habeas corpus, the powers that protect citizens from unlawful detention.”
Though the Library of Congress said the content was missing due to an “inadvertent” action, TechCrunch noted that it followed “Trump administration official Stephen Miller’s threats earlier this year to suspend habeas corpus.” Audacy also reported on the Trump administration’s consideration suspending habeas corpus in May.
Lori Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law School, told Audacy that the fact that the Trump administration wanted to “is an indication that the White House is really frustrated that the federal courts won’t do what they want.”
Trump kicked off his second term in the White House with a flurry of executive orders and controversial moves that have ended up in court. His actions have also led some to question whether the Trump administration is running afoul of the Constitution.
Changing the online version of the U.S. Constitution’s text doesn’t actually change U.S. law. TechCrunch said. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle declined to provide a comment to the outlet beyond the Library of Congress’ post.