Presidential Records Act

The Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978, 44 U.S.C. §§ 2201–2207, is an Act of Congress of the United States governing the official records of Presidents and Vice Presidents created or received after January 20, 1981, and mandating the preservation of all presidential records. Enacted November 4, 1978[1], the PRA changed the legal ownership of the official records of the President from private to public, and established a new statutory structure under which Presidents must manage their records.

Establishment and responsibility

Specifically, the Presidential Records Act:

  • Defines and states public ownership of the records.
  • Places the responsibility for the custody and management of incumbent Presidential records with the President.
  • Allows the incumbent President to dispose of records that no longer have administrative, historical, informational, or evidentiary value, once he has obtained the views of the Archivist of the United States on the proposed disposal.
  • Requires that the President and his staff take all practical steps to file personal records separately from Presidential records.
  • Establishes a process for restriction and public access to these records. Specifically, the PRA allows for public access to Presidential records through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) beginning five years after the end of the Administration, but allows the President to invoke as many as six specific restrictions to public access for up to twelve years. The PRA also establishes procedures for Congress, courts, and subsequent administrations to obtain special access to records that remain closed to the public, following a 30‑day notice period to the former and current Presidents.
  • Requires that Vice-Presidential records are to be treated in the same way as Presidential records.

Related Executive Orders:

Application

In June 2018, Politico reports that President Donald Trump frequently and routinely would tear up papers he received, resulting in government officials taping them together for archiving to ensure that Trump did not violate the Presidential Records Act.[5]

In July 2018, Business Insider reported that President Trump gave his personal cellphone number to various world leaders, having unrecorded conversations with them completely without U.S. officials' knowledge.[6]

In July 2018, CNN reports that The White House has suspended the practice of publishing public summaries of President Donald Trump's phone calls with world leaders, two sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN, bringing an end to a common exercise from Republican and Democratic administrations. [7]

Proposed amendments

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Chairman's Notebook on Presidential Records Act | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
  2. ↑ Office of the Federal Register (November 1, 2001). "Further Implementation of the Presidential Records Act" (PDF). Federal Register. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. Archived from the original on November 5, 2001. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  3. ↑ Office of the Press Secretary (January 21, 2009). "Executive Order on Presidential Records". UCSB. Santa Barbara, California: University of California. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  4. ↑ Office of the Federal Register (January 21, 2009). "Presidential Records" (PDF). Federal Register. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. Archived from the original on January 26, 2009. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  5. ↑ Karni, Annie. "Meet the guys who tape Trump's papers back together". Politico. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  6. ↑ Choi, David. "Trump reportedly gave out his personal cell phone number to world leaders and US officials 'had no idea' he was making calls". Business Insider. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  7. ↑ Collins, Kaitlan. "Exclusive: White House stops announcing calls with foreign leaders". CNN. Retrieved 25 July 2018.


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