Donald Trump has fired Colleen Shogan, the Archivist of the United States.
When Ms. Shogan last made news, Joe Biden and his Administration were pressuring Ms. Shogan to announce that the Equal Rights Amendment had been ratified and added to the Constitution.
Ms. Shogan refused, going so far as to issue a public statement that she would not only not do what Biden wanted but also did not recognize his authority under the Constitution to do what he demanded.
President Trump seems to have fired Ms. Shogan as retaliation for the National Archives’ participation in the classified documents case against him.
Ms. Shogan became Archivist less than thirty days before the case was filed and was not involved in the prelude to that case. Before taking the job on May 4, 2023, she had been the Center for White House History director. The Grand Jury that indicted Trump unsealed its work on June 8, 2023. Jack Smith’s archival accomplice was Ms. Shogan’s predecessor in the office.
During her short tenure as Archivist, Ms. Shogan expedited the review of COVID-19 backlogged veteran records and eliminated the backlog that her predecessor seemed incapable of processing.
She then defied Joe Biden and the left as they attempted to pressure her into making a public statement of support for the Equal Rights Amendment as part of the Constitution.
However, Donald Trump fired her over the classified documents case in which she played no role.
This was a mistake. Donald Trump just fired the woman who stood up to Joe Biden and also who made veterans a priority for the National Archives. The Archivist should be a non-partisan position precisely because of the pressure brought by Joe Biden, and Ms. Shogan showed she had the fortitude to defy political pressure.
