President Trump dismissed Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan, a decision he previewed a month earlier before assuming office on Jan. 20.
“At the direction of @realDonaldTrump the Archivist of the United States has been dismissed tonight. We thank Colleen Shogan for her service,” said White House Director of Presidential Personnel Sergio Gor in a Friday post on the social platform X.
Shogan was the first woman to serve as the leader of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
She was nominated by former President Biden in 2022 and was confirmed to the role in May 2023. Before being the NARA head, Shogun was the senior vice president and director of the David M. Rubenstein Center at the White House Historical Association.
Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in early January that he wanted to replace Shogan.
“I think I can tell you that we will get somebody,” Trump said on Hewitt’s radio show. “Let me just put it – yeah, we will have a new archivist.”
The president can remove the archivist, which is typically an apolitical role, but has to communicate the reasons for any such removal to Congress, according to the NARA.
The archivist is tasked with managing NARA, and preserving and making accessible the government’s most valuable documents.
The role found itself under increased scrutiny by Republicans in recent years following the FBI’s raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago as part of a probe into allegedly handling classified documents. Archives asked the Justice Department in 2022 to look into Trump’s handling of the White House documents.
When reached for comment, the NARA referred The Hill to the White House.
