Edit: as pointed out in a comment below, the official cause is coding error

Compare with the original, from a few weeks back

Half of section 8, governing Congressional power over the military is removed.

Section 9 had, among other things:

  • Habeas Corpus the right to get a court hearing instead of arbitrary imprisonment
  • a ban on foreign emoluments for the US officials (eg: payments from foreign governments)

Section 10 reserved foreign policy for the federal government instead of the states.

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[–] 95 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

Benjamin felt a nose nuzzling at his shoulder. He looked round. It was Clover. Her old eyes looked dimmer than ever. Without saying anything, she tugged gently at his mane and led him round to the end of the big barn, where the Seven Commandments were written. For a minute or two they stood gazing at the tatted wall with its white lettering.

"My sight is failing," she said finally. "Even when I was young I could not have read what was written there. But it appears to me that that wall looks different. Are the Seven Commandments the same as they used to be, Benjamin?"

For once Benjamin consented to break his rule, and he read out to her what was written on the wall. There was nothing there now except a single Commandment. It ran:

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL

BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS

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  • [–] 95 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I just threw that whole page into multiple archive sites, so when they revert it later and claim nothing happened, there's still a log.

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  • [–] 89 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    It's just so fucking stupid and terrifying at the same time.

    They don't got to burn the books, they just remove them.

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  • [+] 18 points 1 year ago* (2 children)
  • [–] 71 points 1 year ago* (13 children)

    Holy shit, it’s indexed in search engines but 404s:

    https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-9/

    Removed here too:

    https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/

    Here are sections 9/10 on another government website, just to make sure I’m not crazy: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript#1-9

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  • [–] 47 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Yeah that pretty much confirms it wasn't just a text based whoopsie. Which... there's no real reason to be modifying the contents of that page anyways. Even the browse article 1 section no longer has links to section 9 or 10.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago* (5 children)

    I mean… they could be automated indexes and something got accidentally deleted from a database?

    I am playing devils advocate and grasping at straws here, though. The implications are also profoundly stupid (especially since other .gov websites are intact).

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  • [–] 18 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Yeah that would make sense to automate if the text was changing frequently. But ... it's not.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Help! I tried to archive https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/ -- but it won't show up in archive.org. It tells me I can go to:

    Did the government break wayback, too?

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  • [–] 174 points 1 year ago (26 children)

    how is this not a bigger deal?

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  • [–] [S] 75 points 1 year ago (17 children)

    Because we dont know for sure that its not some really dumb technical problem instead of yet another announcement of the intent to turn the US into a dictatorship.

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  • [–] 72 points 1 year ago (10 children)

    What possible 'technical problem' could do this? It's not like the whole page has just gone offline. Specific sections of text are missing. And this is text that should never need updating.

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  • [–] [S] 31 points 1 year ago* (9 children)

    They're doing annotated sections. If the backend loads sections or parts of sections separately, a corrupt database might cause a problem like this. Also could load each article into a buffee...and article I was too long to fit, so it got truncated.

    There is a lot more opportunity for technology to break in interesting ways than most people expect.

    Its also sometimes helpful to give an adversary a face-saving way to back down, and a technical problem can be a way to do that.

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  • [–] 38 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Section 8 stops at the same point on two independent pages. Is it possible they're both referencing the same source file? Maybe. But why would this ever get truncated? This isn't some dynamic page that will have to buffer blocks of text of unknown length. It just doesn't pass the smell test that the site suddenly can't display correctly a block of text that hasn't changed at all in over 200 years. And the sections that are deleted just happen to be those areas that Trump hates the most.

    Regardless, we should screaming about this from the mountaintops. If there is one website on the federal government that you do not want to have displayed incorrectly, it's the fucking Constitution.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago

    I’ve seen over confident jr programmers think that they got it all right and deploy code without checking plenty of times.

    Remember “DOGE” is also an effort to update all kinds of servers and codebases to like nodeJS or whatever current flavor of server the new programmers think is cool.

    I’m not going to say it might not be intentional, but Hanlon’s razor is still my default for now. (Not with the climate and DHHS pages though, that shit is fascist data manipulation for sure).

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago*

    Okay, so explain this: why can I archive various random pages on congress.gov, but when I try to look at archives for the 14th amendment, I get complaints that I can't access it from 'this site' (archive.org)? I can view the live page, but I can't archive it and then see the result. I'm also having issue archiving the current Article 1 page (as mentioned further under this post).

    Edit: To me, the 14th amendment issue hints that: a) that page in particular requires cookies and b) it intentionally won't load for/from archive.org -- but this is not consistent for other pages so it seems extra fishy.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Stop it. You're watching your rights being selectively erased so you can be deported while Trump gets private jets as bribes, stop it.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Stop what, making this post which alerted people to the problem?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)

    They are coming up with ridiculously convoluted and unlikely excuses and downplaying the severity of it, this is an intentional assault on your freedoms and literal life in some cases, this isn't a stupidly designed application that gets portions of text through separate calls and quietly ignores when some calls fail and presents the output as if its complete.

    It's possible that this combination of idiotic schema/application design and silent exception handling results in exactly the rights Trump is openly attacking being stripped out of the official .gov constitution document, but the odds are so incredible low why even hypothesize that? Why give them an out they didn't even attempt themselves?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    It’s possible that this combination of idiotic schema/application design and silent exception handling results in exactly the rights Trump is openly attacking being stripped out of the official .gov constitution document, but the odds are so incredible low why even hypothesize that?

    "Exactly the rights Trump is openly attacking" includes "providing and maintaining a navy"?

    Your confirmation bias is showing.

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  • [–] 23 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    What? What could possibly convince you this is a technical problem?

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago*

    Because it chops off text from one point in a section to the end of said section. If someone fucked up editing the site, this is a possible result.

    I'm not saying that's for sure what happened, but it's definitely within the realm of possibility since they fired all the competent people.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago

    Most likely, it's because they couldn't source enough electrons for the full text as they have to be imported at great cost and are hit with extremely high tariffs at the moment.
    I mean probably something like that.

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  • [+] -6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Because a plurality of voters wanted it to happen.

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  • [–] 17 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

    Except for the Musk/Trump voter fraud.

    And the Constitution has ways for it to be amended. There were no votes on that.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago

    Idgaf if its the official process or not, every single Trump voter should be told this is what they voted for. They should all feel responsibility for everything that happens, start to finish. They did this. They asked for this. They voted for this.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    If fascists didn't make up the (near-) majority of politically active citizens like you're insinuating, then maybe your institutions wouldn't have immediately crumpled like wet paper.

    The rule of law is literally dead in the US. Trump's team has repeatedly brazenly broken the constitution and showed that no-one is willing to stop him. It literally couldn't matter any less what the constitution says, because the opposition is too chickenshit to do even the bare minimum to defend it, because there is no meaningful popular support for active pro-democratic action in the US and that's a hard fact.

    Overwhelming popular apathy is Putin and Xinping's key to power, and Americans are even worse because these inbred morons really unironically thought that the second amendment was meant to prevent tyranny.

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  • [–] 37 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I just emailed 404 Media about this.

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    [–] [M] 107 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    Technically this should be removed as it's not a news article discussing the edit, but it's important enough that I'll leave it for now.

    EDIT Story has now been picked up by Alternet:

    https://www.alternet.org/trump-constitutional-crisis/

    Edit 2 The missing sections are now restored.

    Full text here:

    https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/full-text

    (Removed sections in bold)

    Section 8: Powers of Congress

    The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

    To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

    To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

    To establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

    To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

    To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

    To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

    To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

    To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

    To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

    To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

    To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

    To provide and maintain a Navy;

    To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

    To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

    To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

    To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards and other needful Buildings;-And

    To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

    Section 9: Powers Denied Congress

    The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

    The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

    No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

    No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

    No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

    No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

    No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

    No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

    Section 10: Powers Denied to the States

    No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

    No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

    No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

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  • [–] 35 points 1 year ago (1 child)
  • [–] 69 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Is this getting media attention?

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  • [–] 33 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    "What the founding fathers wanted."

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  • [–] 31 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I think these are probably the main bits they wanted to remove (both Article I section 9):

    • The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
    • No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
    • No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

    Pure speculation to be clear, but they removed only the end of section 8, and probably removed section 10 because it would have to be numbered differently. Habeas Corpus has been causing them trouble, they've been stealing money pretty blatantly already, and bill of attainder/ex post facto laws seem convenient to them.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago* (12 children)

    What is whatever this is, called? It’s not technically “amending”…has it ever been done before??

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  • [–] 38 points 1 year ago*

    This is classic Ministry Of Truth tactics, it goes under many names but always exists in authoritarian society, what you recall and what you know isn't relevant, what the state says is the truth is the only truth.

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  • [–] 25 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    All they did is edit the copy on the Congressional website, it has no legal authority. The Constitution is still the Constitution.

    The only way to make the change actually have merit is to either go through the Amendment process or have another Constitutional Convention and re-write the whole thing...

    Which they ARE trying to do BTW:

    https://conventionofstates.com/

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)
  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Typically Hanlon's razor ("Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.") is best to live by, but honestly what in the fuck else could cause this other than malice?

    We're approaching a time in this country that is really scaring me, and I just hope everyone has enough food, water, medical supplies, weapons/ammo, and community to get through what's coming. Trump is setting tinder boxes all over the country and trying to provoke a violent response so he can send in martial law, and all (minus like 2) Republicans in the House, Senate, and Supreme Court support this.

    Fascists only understand one language.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Update from the Library of Congress says they'll fix it and gave a weak excuse, for now they've added a banner to the website saying its not accurate

    At least they are not doubling down

    https://bsky.app/profile/librarycongress.bsky.social/post/3lvqilhwb6k2x

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