Justice Department says law requiring president to turn over records at end of administration is unconstitutional
By Melissa Quinn, April 2, 2026 / 2:38 PM EDT / CBS News
Washington — The Justice Department said that a federal law enacted in the wake of the Watergate scandal that requires the president to preserve certain documents and turn them over to the National Archives at the end of his administration is unconstitutional.
The opinion from Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser, who leads the Office of Legal Counsel, concluded that the Presidential Records Act exceeds Congress’ power and “aggrandizes the legislative branch” at the expense of the independence of the executive branch.
Gaiser, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, wrote that as a result of his determination that the Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional, President Trump does not need to comply with it.
“The PRA is not a valid exercise of Congress’s Article I authority and unconstitutionally intrudes on the independence and autonomy of the President guaranteed by Article II,” he found. “The Act establishes a permanent and burdensome regime of congressional regulation of the Presidency untethered from any valid and identifiable legislative purpose.”
The Office of Legal Counsel decision on the constitutionality of the records law was made public Thursday and first reported by Axios.
The Presidential Records Act was enacted in 1978, four years after President Richard Nixon’s resignation. The law established that presidential records belong to the U.S. government, not the president personally, and must be preserved. When a president leaves office, the Presidential Records Act requires material to be turned over to the National Archives, which maintains the documents.
Editor’s Note: Ha Ha Ha. Good try fools 🙂
Continue/Read Original Article: Justice Department says law requiring president to turn over records at end of administration is unconstitutional – CBS News
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