# Library of Congress has started amending the Constitution **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 6, 2025, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772 "2025-08-06T15:51:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/1 "2025-08-06T15:51:22Z")
Article I, sections 9 and 10 have been deleted from the Constitution on the US Library of Congress webpage. Probably because they’re outdated. No one needs to know about them. I mean, habeas corpus, bills of attainder, limits on state powers; those are all pretty obscure, right? [https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/](https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/) Some rabble-rousing private org, the National Constitution Center, still has those sections in its version. Must not have got the visit yet from the Library of Congress Police. > **[Full Text of the U.S. Constitution | Constitution Center](https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/full-text)** > > Read and share the complete text of the United States Constitution. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/2 "2025-08-06T15:53:08Z")
News item from Above the Law: > **[Congress Just Deleted Habeas Corpus From The Constitution On Its Website -...](https://abovethelaw.com/2025/08/congress-just-deleted-habeas-corpus-from-the-constitution-on-its-website/)** > > Congress.gov keeps an annotated copy of the Constitution. They have deleted Article I, Section 9. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/3 "2025-08-06T16:07:59Z")
I just went there and saw this at the top > The Constitution Annotated website is currently experiencing data issues. We are working to resolve this issue and regret the inconvenience. I hope that’s the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/4 "2025-08-06T16:09:50Z")
I did not see that when I was there a few minutes ago. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/5 "2025-08-06T16:15:09Z")
Looking a the page source I (a web developer) am struggling to come up with an explanation for how this could be a data issue. At the same time, I’m struggling to come up with a political reason why anyone thinks that removing sections from this page would accomplish anything. Honestly, the only thing that makes sense to me right now is that the administration has some big list of “stupid stuff that will distract the media” and every few days they pull from that list randomly and enjoy a few moments of hey wait a minute where are the Epstein files? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/6 "2025-08-06T16:24:19Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Looking a the page source I (a web developer) am struggling to come up with an explanation for how this could be a data issue. I am guessing some underpaid intern made a goof. An accident. A mistake. At least I hope it is as simple as that. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/7 "2025-08-06T16:42:04Z")
Since there was no need whatsoever to go into that website to change anything, I would need to know what the actual intent of that supposed underpaid intern actually was. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/8 "2025-08-06T16:51:05Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Article I, sections 9 and 10 have been deleted from the Constitution on the US Library of Congress webpage. > > Probably because they’re outdated. No one needs to know about them. It’s of no effect. There are legion copies and transcripts of the U.S. Constitution, including 13 surviving from the original 1787 print run of 500. The Library of Congress copy is not some official copy holding sway over the law of the land. Another government agency, the National Archives, still has **[the full transcript including Art 1, Sec 9-10](https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript#1-9)**. A 1787 hard copy is also on public display in several places, including the National Archives Rotunda (which, admittedly, could perhaps be closed or otherwise acted upon by Trumpian agents at any point). In the image below, Article 1, Section 9 starts just over halfway down the page. Section 10 follows. It’s easiest seen and made out by enlarging and zooming in: [![](https://www.archives.gov/files/founding-docs/constitution-page2.jpg) ](https://www.archives.gov/files/founding-docs/constitution-page2.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/9 "2025-08-06T16:58:10Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Looking a the page source I (a web developer) am struggling to come up with an explanation for how this could be a data issue. At the same time, I’m struggling to come up with a political reason why anyone thinks that removing sections from this page would accomplish anything. I haven’t looked at the code but, certainly, I’d expect this sort of thing to either be hardcoded into the HTML or stored as a single, large blob in a single table cell. Your “creating headlines just for the sake of creating headlines” theory isn’t completely unreasonable. I’d probably lean towards a minor act of protest by a person who disagrees with the current administration, but I’d lean more strongly towards, “Probably not the biggest issue of the day.” ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/10 "2025-08-06T17:01:29Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I just went there and saw this at the top > > > The Constitution Annotated website is currently experiencing data issues. We are working to resolve this issue and regret the inconvenience. > > I hope that’s the truth . **[It now reads “coding error”](https://constitution.congress.gov/)**, not “data issue”. Malice vs incompetence and all that. Let’s see what it looks like in a day or two. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/11 "2025-08-06T17:03:46Z")
I’m willing to go with incompetence but I can’t imagine why fixing this would take a day or two. It is a copy/paste/submit problem. Could be fixed in a minute. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/12 "2025-08-06T17:07:00Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Could be fixed in a minute. That’s probably the basis for how the error happened in the first place 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/13 "2025-08-06T17:07:50Z")
If the person with access to the server is still working there. Could be a disgruntled employee from one of the rounds of senseless layoffs, and now nobody left has edit privileges any more. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/14 "2025-08-06T17:08:27Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > … I can’t imagine why fixing this would take a day or two Just giving whoever a little bit of grace. Had something similar happened under Obama or Biden’s administrations, it would have largely gone unnoticed (or at least wouldn’t have been covered by any news outlets). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/15 "2025-08-06T17:08:56Z")
It’s just like when a business overcharges for a service until they get caught, then blames it on “computer error”, right? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/16 "2025-08-06T17:13:21Z")
Nope. Still says “data issues”. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/17 "2025-08-06T17:14:56Z")
Here’s what I see: > Thank you for your inquiry and your interest in the Library of Congress. Due to a coding error, some sections of Article 1 are missing on the Constitution Annotated website. We are aware of the issue and working to correct it. We expect this to be resolved soon. If you wish, we can send you an email notification when the issue is resolved. Maybe clear your browser cache? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/18 "2025-08-06T17:15:58Z")
I’m just saying what they claim on the top of the page. Still. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/19 "2025-08-06T17:17:04Z")
Ah. At the _top_ of the page. I missed that at first. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772/20 "2025-08-06T17:20:33Z")
My guess is you are right about that. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/library-of-congress-has-started-amending-the-constitution/1021772.md?page=2)