In a move to protect the integrity of the American historical record, two prominent organizations filed an emergency motion in federal court on Tuesday to block the Trump administration from disregarding the Presidential Records Act (PRA).
The filing by American Oversight and the American Historical Association (AHA) follows a Department of Justice (DOJ) opinion issued earlier this month declaring the 1978 law unconstitutional.
The groups are seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the potential deletion or destruction of records they argue belong to the public, not the president.
The legal battle centers on a sweeping opinion from the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), which advised that President Trump “need not further comply” with the PRA. The administration argues the law unconstitutionally intrudes on executive autonomy.
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The PRA, enacted in the wake of the Watergate scandal, established that presidential records are the property of the United States. It requires the preservation of all documents related to official duties, including memos, emails, and even encrypted messages.
“The law is clear: presidential records belong to the American people — not to any one president,” said Liz Hempowicz, Deputy Executive Director of American Oversight. “We asked the administration for a simple commitment to preserve records during this case and they refused, leaving us no choice but to seek emergency relief.”
Historians warn that if the administration stops following the PRA, vital information about government decision-making could vanish forever. Dr. Sarah Weicksel, executive director of the AHA, stated that without proper preservation, records will be “irretrievably lost to the American people and to history.”
The motion argues that the administration’s refusal to commit to record-keeping is particularly concerning regarding personal devices and encrypted messaging platforms like Signal or WhatsApp, where messages can be set to delete automatically.
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Attorneys for the watchdog groups point to the 1977 Supreme Court case Nixon v. Administrator of General Services, which upheld a similar law. They argue that the OLC opinion ignores decades of settled law and that Congress has the authority to regulate government property.
“An incumbent President should not be dependent on happenstance or the whim of a prior President when he seeks access to records of past decisions,” the filing notes, quoting the 1977 ruling.
The groups are asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to order the administration to:
- Comply with all PRA requirements immediately.
- Cease the destruction or loss of any presidential materials.
- Ensure all staff use official accounts for government business.
If the court does not intervene, the groups argue the damage will be permanent. As Hempowicz noted, “Once that happens, the damage cannot be undone; they are gone for good.”
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