President Trump’s Schedule for Friday, May 22nd: News, Don Jr.’s Wedding
President Trump is scheduled to appear in Rockland County, New York, on Friday. He won’t go to his son’s wedding. Introducing all the latest Trump news.
A federal judge has ordered President Donald Trump’s aides to comply with the Presidential Records Act, rejecting arguments that the decades-old law exceeds the president’s authority.
U.S. District Judge John Bates began his ruling with a quote from George Orwell’s “1984,” then said Congress enacted the Presidential Records Act to “ensure that government records are created, preserved, and available to the public.”
The decision directly contradicts an April Justice Department memo that claimed the law unconstitutionally infringed on the president’s powers. The administration has until May 26 to appeal the ruling before it takes effect, according to court records obtained by USA TODAY.
So what does the Presidential Records Act require? Here’s what you need to know.
What is the Presidential Records Act?
The Presidential Records Act, enacted in 1978 after the Watergate scandal, sets rules for how presidents handle official records created while in office.
Under the law, records related to the president’s official business must be preserved and transferred to the National Archives at the end of his administration. The same requirements apply to the vice president’s record.
The law was brought back into the spotlight in 2022 when classified documents were discovered on the premises of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, including more than 100 documents with classified markings. The investigation led to dozens of federal charges related to the handling of national defense intelligence, but those charges were dropped after Trump returned to office.
USA TODAY’s Bart Jansen and Aysha Bagchi contributed to this report.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact us at fernando.cervantes@usatodayco.com and follow us at X @fern_cerv_.
