COVFEFE Act would classify social media posts as official record

Trump Presser FBN

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) introduced the COVFEFE Act Monday, which would classify President Donald Trump's social media posts as presidential records.

Rep. Quigley, who is both co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Transparency Caucus, announced the Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement (or “COVFEFE”) Act Monday, which pushes for the expansion of the Presidential Record Act to include social media posts. The PRA manages the preservation and documentation of all of the president's records.

“President Trump’s frequent, unfiltered use of his personal Twitter account as a means of official communication is unprecedented. 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. Tweets are powerful, and the President must be held accountable for every post,” Quigley said in a press release Monday.

If passed, deleting tweets would be considered a violation “subject to disciplinary action.”

The president, who fires off tweets at all hours of the day, sent out the word “covfefe,” seemingly on accident, in a post late last month, sending the internet into a frenzy. Trump later joked “who can figure out the true meaning of ‘covfefe’?” Even though Trump eventually deleted the viral post, the administration never admitted the tweet was a misfire and, instead, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said “The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant,” but declined to let anyone else in on the secret.

Rep. Quigley has also pushed for the publication of visitor logs at the White House, Mar-a-Lago and any other place where Trump conducts official business. That bill is called the Making Access Records Available to Lead American Government Openness (MAR-A-LAGO) Act.