COVFEFE Act

"COVFEFE" redirects here. For the word, see Covfefe.
The Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement Act
Democratic representative Mike Quigley introduced the legislation.

The Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement Act (COVFEFE Act), House Bill H.R. 2884, was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on June 12, 2017, during the 115th United States Congress. The bill was intended to amend the Presidential Records Act to preserve Twitter posts and other social media interactions of the President of the United States and require the National Archives to store such items.[1][2] H.R. 2884 was assigned to the House Oversight and Reform Committee for consideration. While in committee, there were no roll call votes related to the bill. The bill died in committee.[3]

U.S. Representative Mike Quigley, Democrat of Illinois, introduced the legislation due to Donald Trump's routine use of Twitter, stating "In order to maintain public trust in government, elected officials must answer for what they do and say; this includes 140-character tweets. If the president is going to take to social media to make sudden public policy proclamations, we must ensure that these statements are documented and preserved for future reference".[1] If enacted, the bill "would bar the prolifically tweeting president from deleting his posts, as he has sometimes done".[1][2]

The COVFEFE Act would have also treated a president's personal social media accounts (e.g., Trump's "@realDonaldTrump" Twitter account) the same as official social media accounts (e.g., the "@POTUS" Twitter account).[2]

  1. ^ a b c "COVFEFE Act would preserve Trump's tweets as official statements". Reuters. June 12, 2017. Archived from the original on June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Shaban, Hamza (June 12, 2017). "The COVFEFE Act would preserve Trump's tweets as presidential records". Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  3. ^ Quigley, Mike (June 12, 2017). "H.R. 2884 (115th): COVFEFE Act of 2017". www.govtrack.us. GovTrack. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2021. This bill was introduced on June 12, 2017. . . but it did not receive a vote.