Trump Fires National Archives Director Colleen Shogan

Donald Trump fired National Archives director Colleen Shogan Friday night, she said in a LinkedIn post and confirmed to 404 Media.

“It was an honor and privilege to serve as the 11th Archivist of the United States,” Shogan told 404 Media. “I did so with integrity every day.”

Earlier on LinkedIn, Shogan wrote: “This evening, President Trump fired me,” Shogan wrote. “No cause or reason was cited. It has been an honor serving as the 11th Archivist of the United States. I have zero regrets – I absolutely did my best every day for the National Archives and the American people.”

Earlier this week, ABC News reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been serving as the acting Archivist of the United States “since shortly after President Trump’s inauguration.” Archives employees told me Thursday that there was no indication Rubio was involved in the Archives in any way, and Shogan gave an all-hands meeting at the National Archives Tuesday in which she said she had been working with the administration. At the time, National Archives and Records Administration officials told workers that they had not been approached by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which has been gutting federal agencies. 

It remains unclear who is going to run the agency, which is in charge of record keeping for the entire federal government. This is a particularly important role considering that large parts of the federal government are currently being purged or shut down, and there is uncertainty about what will happen to their records.

“At the direction of @realDonaldTrump the Archivist of the United States has been dismissed tonight,” Sergio Gor, the director of the Presidential Personnel Office, tweeted. “We thank Colleen Shogan for her service.”

A spokesperson for NARA declined to comment.