On August 6, the Library of Congress confirmed that significant portions of Article I, Section 8, and all of Sections 9 and 10 of the U.S. Constitution disappeared from its Constitution Annotated website due to a “coding error.” Sections addressing such critical provisions as habeas corpus, the emoluments clause, and restrictions on state powers were briefly removed and later restored, all within hours.
The congressional library posted on X, saying, “It has been brought to our attention that some sections of Article 1 are missing from the Constitution Annotated (https://constitution.congress.gov) website… 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.”
These sections define the foundational limits on federal and state authority. Their disappearance sparked concern about the reliability of government digital records and whether or not this was an intention change.
One user on X wrote, “Coding errors do not happen on their own. And unless the Constitution has been recently changed (which I do not recall Congress having a 2/3rd approval and a majority of states ratifying any changes), there is no reason for anyone to have accessed those sections to make any changes.”
Library officials stated the site was corrected by 2 p.m. ET, acknowledging public scrutiny for alerting them to the issue and reaffirming their commitment to accurate constitutional access.
