The Trump administration’s plans to cut budgets and staff at the National Archives and Records Administration will put a dent in NARA’s ability to increase access to historical records and stunting preparations for a coming tidal wave of digital records, former Archives officials and experts warn.
President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget request sets NARA’s budget at $414.7 million — nearly $60 million less than projected 2025 spending levels and $93 million less compared to 2024.
The budget proposal would cut 136 full-time employees across NARA. The agency’s budget justification document states the reduction comes from “implementation of an organizational realignment to improve program efficiency and operational resilience.”
But Colleen Shogan, the former Archivist of the United States, said she believes NARA’s budget is already too small. In February, President Donald Trump terminated Shogan without citing a cause. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is now serving as the acting archivist.
“I wanted to grow that budget in a sensible, responsible way so that we could build the electronic records capability in particular that was needed in the future,” Shogan said an interview. “So taking it in the other direction is a decision that will frustrate NARA’s ability to fulfill its mission.”
Former officials point out that NARA is grappling with an exponential increase in the number of digital records produced by federal agencies. But the agency’s budget has largely stayed flat over the last three decades, according to the National Security Archive.
In addition to staff cuts, the 2026 budget request would specifically reduce funding for NARA’s Electronic Records Initiative, which includes efforts to modernize the agency’s records management system.
“NARA leadership’s submission of a reduced budget for their own agency is difficult to fathom, given the enormous resource challenges NARA currently faces,” Jason R. Baron, a professor at the University of Maryland and former director of litigation at NARA, told Federal News Network. “These include dealing with huge FOIA processing backlogs at presidential libraries, as well as putting in place both the people and the necessary technology to preserve and provide public access to the billions of records in electronic form coming to NARA from hundreds of government agencies.”
Lauren Harper, who works on government secrecy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, also expressed concerns about the reductions.
“I don’t see how they can withstand a $60 million cut,” Harper told Federal News Network.
In response to questions about the cuts, a spokesman with NARA’s public affairs office said “the National Archives as an agency was engaged in activities outside of its core strengths.” NARA also cited preparations for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence next year.
“The purpose behind the ongoing reorganization at the National Archives is to reallocate NARA’s resources to support and prioritize functions squarely within its mission, especially as there will be increasing interest in America’s founding and the contents within the National Archives with the upcoming Semiquincentennial in 2026,” the spokesman said.
NARA staffing and RIFs
As of June 16, NARA employed 2,744 staff, down by about 150 people since late January, according to archived versions of the agency’s “by the numbers” webpage. More employees — many of them with significant expertise — are expected to leave through voluntary buyouts or early retirements. Other employees were fired due to their probationary status.
On June 13, NARA Chief of Management and Administration Valorie Findlater told employees the agency would issue reductions-in-force to about 3% of its staff. GovExec reported the agency will conduct two rounds of RIFs targeting nearly 100 people in the Office of Innovation and in the presidential library system.
Shogan said the voluntary resignations and retirements have led to NARA losing many seasoned employees, while RIFs and probationary firings likely target early career staff with digital skills the Archives needs moving forward.
“You’re seeing reductions at both of those levels of the workforce, and they’re both equally bad,” she said.
NARA’s 2026 budget request includes no funding for the Office of Innovation, which employs 50 full-time staff. The office has led NARA’s work to improve the agency’s online presence and expand digital access, including through the agency’s online records catalog. It also runs outreach programs, like the “citizens archivist” project that enables the public to transcribe historical documents and tag photos.
“If you are eliminating that office, then you are eliminating a lot of the improvements and the focus and the experts that specialize in that digital access through the catalog,” Shogan said.
NARA told Federal News Network that “functions being carried out by the Office of Innovation are being transferred elsewhere within NARA.”
“Mass records digitization remains a big goal, but the National Archives will have to work with external partners to make that happen,” the NARA spokesman said.
NARA’s 2026 budget would also cut 23 full-time staff across the presidential library system. Harper said any RIFs targeting the libraries will hamper access to consequential records.
“This will continue to diminish our ability to get the highest-level government records declassified,” she said. “Along with all the other cuts, particularly those that impact preservation of contemporary records, this will imperil scholarship, policymakers, and hamper accountability for agencies and the White House.”
In its statement, NARA said “presidential libraries are unique American treasures that perform similar functions and will be fully supported.”
The agency also pointed to plans for increased funding at NARA’s Office of Research Services.
“The Office of Research Services — which protects and conserves America’s highly-valued records, works with federal agencies to release government records, and staffs research rooms — will receive more support and personnel through NARA’s reorganization,” the agency said.
NARA’s ‘single biggest challenge’
Beyond immediate staffing shortages, however, Shogan is concerned that NARA is budgeting only $20 million — about $10 million less than last year — for the “Electronic Records Initiative” program.
During her time as archivist, Shogan said it became clear NARA needed more funding to build a modern system capable of managing an expected massive influx of digital records — emails, Word documents, PDFs and more — being produced by federal agencies. Last year, NARA stopped accepting most forms of analog records from agencies for permanent archiving.
“It is the single biggest challenge facing the National Archives in the next decade,” Shogan said. “I remember wanting to add to that $30 million, not reduce it.”
In 2023, NARA started rolling out a new system called Electronic Records Archive 2.0, or ERA 2.0, for governmentwide use. But Shogan said the system need far more robust capabilities and functionality in the coming years.
“Even though there were some components of that system that were functional and starting to be built, there was no totality of the system that integrated and worked together,” she said.
Shogan said NARA needs a system that enables “cloud-to-cloud transfer,” has strong cybersecurity measures, and allows Americans to seamlessly access digital records.
“In my estimation it would have taken the National Archives, I would think, at least six, seven to eight years to build that system. And whenever I started to dig into it and talk to experts, an approximate cost would have been about $100 million to build that system,” Shogan said.
NARA did not specifically respond to questions about reduced funding for the electronic record system.
“We encourage everyone to wait until the reorganization goes fully into effect to see the positive changes it will bring,” the spokesman said.
Copyright
© 2025 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.