Trump’s firing of the U.S. government archivist is far worse than it might seem; Fast Company, February 12, 2025

JARED KELLER, Fast Company; Trump’s firing of the U.S. government archivist is far worse than it might seem

"On Feb. 7, Trump fired Colleen Shogan from her role as Archivist of the United States, the head of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and government official responsible for overseeing the preservation—both physical and digital—and promulgation of government records. Shogan’s dismissal marks the first time that a sitting president has fired the nation’s archivist since the position was established in the 1930s...

The dismissal wasn’t exactly unexpected. The New York Times reports that Trump had grown to “despise” the agency for its role in alerting the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2022 to his alleged misappropriation and mishandling of classified documents at his Florida estate of Mar-a-Lago following his first term in office—a case a federal judge dismissed in July of last year. (His ire extended to Shogan despite her not assuming the Archivist post until 2023, months after the agency alerted the DOJ.) 

And Shogan won’t be the last NARA official to get the axe: The president has reportedly in recent months drawn up a “list” of staff to fire in retaliation for their role in the classified documents investigation, according to Rolling Stone. (Shogan, NARA, and the White House did not respond to Fast Company’s requests for comment.)"