A federal judge has ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to comply with the Presidential Records Act, rejecting a recent Justice Department argument that the decades-old law violates the U.S. Constitution.
The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge John Bates, marks a major legal setback for the administration’s effort to weaken federal oversight of presidential records. The judge found that historians who challenged the administration had shown a “substantial risk” that the White House was failing to follow the law.
The Presidential Records Act, passed after the Watergate scandal, requires presidents to preserve official records created during their time in office. Those materials later transfer to the National Archives and Records Administration once a president leaves office.
Judge Bates said Congress clearly has the constitutional authority to regulate presidential records.
“In sum, the original public meaning of the text of the Constitution, canons of interpretation, Supreme Court precedent, general principles of property law, and almost 50 years of practice confirm that Congress has the enumerated power to regulate presidential records under the Property Clause,” Bates wrote.
The 54-page decision also stressed the historical importance of preserving White House documents for future public access. Bates referenced both George Orwell and William Shakespeare while criticizing the administration’s legal position.
“To adopt the government’s position that the Act is unconstitutional would disable Congress and future Presidents from reflecting on experience, in defiance of the very words engraved on the National Archives Building in Washington: ‘What is past is prologue,’” he wrote.
The court gave the administration until May 26 to comply with the order.
The conflict began after Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser argued in a Justice Department opinion last month that the Presidential Records Act had no valid legislative purpose and exceeded congressional authority.
“The PRA exceeds the oversight power because it serves no identifiable and valid legislative purpose. It exceeds any preservation power because Congress cannot preserve presidential records merely for the sake of posterity,” the DOJ opinion stated.
The debate over presidential records has followed Trump since the end of his first term. Federal prosecutors previously accused him of improperly storing sensitive government documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office.
Trump was later indicted on allegations tied to retaining classified documents and obstructing justice. The case was eventually dismissed after Aileen Cannon questioned the appointment authority of special counsel Jack Smith.
Under the Presidential Records Act, official White House materials including emails, phone logs, and internal documents created by the president and staff during official duties become government property after a president leaves office. The law was designed to prevent presidents from treating those records as personal possessions.
