Terms of use

1. What this is

Read the Mandate is a free reference site. It indexes policy documents, quotes them with page citations, and records actions taken against the proposals it indexes. It is published by the operators of readthemandate.org. Using the site means you accept these terms.

2. What this is not

It is not legal advice, not political advice, and not a source of record. It is an index that points at sources of record. Where a citation matters to you, in a filing, an article, a paper or an argument, follow the link and read the original. Every entry carries one for that reason.

Nothing here is a claim that any document caused any action. A recorded match means an action addresses the subject of a proposal, no more. Nothing here is a statement that a proposal is good, bad, lawful or unlawful, and nothing here is an endorsement of or opposition to any document, party, candidate or organization.

3. Accuracy, and its limits

Considerable machinery exists to keep this site accurate, described in full on how this is made. It is still assembled by fallible people and imperfect tools, it is incomplete by design, and coverage gaps are stated on the pages themselves. An empty record is not evidence that nothing happened.

The site is provided as is and as available, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose. We do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that any particular entry is complete. Errors should be reported rather than relied upon.

4. Accounts

An account is optional. It exists so you can save pages and choose what to be told about. You are responsible for the email address you give us and for anything done through your account. Do not use an address that is not yours.

You may delete your account at any time, which deletes your saved pages and your address. We may suspend or remove an account that is being used to attack the site, to abuse other people, or to break these terms, and we will say why where we reasonably can.

Accounts are not intended for children under 13.

5. Acceptable use

Read it, link to it, quote it, disagree with it, and share it. Do not attempt to break into it, disrupt it, scrape it in a way that degrades it for other people, misrepresent it as your own work, or present altered text as something this site published.

6. Quoting and reuse

Quote this site freely with attribution and a link. Better still, quote the underlying document and cite its page: the page number is right there, and a primary citation is worth more than a secondary one.

Quotations from indexed documents remain the property of their publishers and are reproduced here for reference and commentary. See copyright and quotation. Our own summaries, plain English renderings, match notes and software are ours.

7. Links out

Links to the Federal Register, to publishers' copies and to other outside pages are not endorsements of anything else those sites publish, and we are not responsible for their content.

8. Liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect, incidental or consequential loss arising from use of this site, including any decision taken in reliance on an entry here rather than on the source it cites. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

9. Changes

These terms may change. Because the site's data and pages are kept in version control, changes to this page are part of a public history rather than a silent edit, and the date below moves when it changes. Continuing to use the site after a change means accepting it.

10. Contact

contact@readthemandate.org. Corrections are welcome and are handled as described under corrections.

Last updated 23 August 2026.