“Presidential Records Preservation Act” Introduced in Congress

March 24, 2021—On March 16, at the beginning of National Sunshine Week, House Oversight and Reform Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced the “Presidential Records Preservation Act” (HR 1929), which would update the 1978 Presidential Records Act by requiring the President, Vice President, and other senior White House officials to “make and preserve records” that document the official activities of the President. The Federal Records Act already contains a similar affirmative obligation for federal agencies to “make and preserve” records, and this bill would align the White House and other executive offices’ record-keeping practices with the rest of government. SAA has long advocated for “all efforts to strengthen the Presidential Records Act.” Read the bill here. For an explanatory article, see Government Executive here. And see SAA’s 2014 issue brief on the PRA here.