National Archives leader confirmed amid turmoil
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the National Archives was confirmed Wednesday by the Senate after a monthslong partisan battle over the agency’s role in the investigation into sensitive documents seized at Donald Trump’s Florida home.
Colleen Shogan, a political scientist, was confirmed as archivist of the United States in a 52-45 vote, gaining some bipartisan support after a nearly yearlong delay.
With a long career spanning work at institutions such as the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress and the White House Historical Association, Shogan has sought to assure senators she will not bring a partisan mindset to the job.
Shogan also stressed to Congress that she has not been briefed on the details or directly involved in the ongoing criminal investigations into Trump’s handling of presidential records and more recently that of President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence.
But her nomination faced hostility from Senate Republicans, who have sought to portray her as a political actor for the left. During her confirmation hearing, they grilled Shogan about her past tweets and a recent whistleblower letter alleging that she created an “abusive” work environment at one of her former posts.
“We are living through the political weaponization of the National Archives, the political weaponization of the Department of Justice, the political weaponization of the FBI,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, during her first confirmation hearing.
The classified documents investigation, which began last summer with the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, has thrust the traditionally staid and low-profile National Archives into the public arena. It was the National Archives that set the probe in motion with a referral to the FBI after Trump returned 15 boxes of documents that contained dozens of records with classified markings.
Biden nominated Shogan just days before the FBI search after the last archivist, David Ferriero, announced his retirement last April. In explaining his decision to step away, Ferriero cited fears about the nation’s political trajectory after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.