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USA Today: Illinois congressman Mike Quigley introduces the COVFEFE Act

June 12, 2017
In the News

The following article was published on June 12, 2017. A link to the article can be found here.

By Jessica Estepa

We may never know what "covfefe" meant. But that doesn't mean we can't make it into another legislative acronym, this time inspired by President Trump's Twitter habits.

Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois on Monday introduced the Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement Act, also known as the COVFEFE Act.

The legislation would amend the Presidential Records Act to make it so tweets and other social media from a president would be considered documentary material, ensuring their preservation.

Quigley said in a statement that Trump needed to be held accountable for his posts.

"In order to maintain public trust in government, elected officials must answer for what they do and say," said Quigley, who is a co-founder and co-chairman of the Congressional Transparency Caucus. "This includes 140-character tweets. President Trump's frequent, unfiltered use of his personal Twitter account as a means of official communications is unprecedented."

Back in 2014, the National Archives released guidance that social media merits historical recording, and earlier this year, it advised the White House to "capture and preserve all tweets that the President posts … including those that are subsequently deleted."

The president has deleted at least 18 tweets since the start of his presidency, according to ProPublica's PoliTwoops, including his now-infamous "covfefe" tweet.

Issues:Government Transparency