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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A federal judge has ordered White House staff under President Donald Trump to continue complying with the Presidential Records Act, rejecting a recent legal opinion from the US Department of Justice that argued the law was unconstitutional.
As reported by MS NOW, US District Judge John Bates ruled on Wednesday that the 1978 Presidential Records Act is likely constitutional and issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion issued last month.
“The Records Act is likely constitutional,” Bates wrote in his 54-page ruling. He stated that Congress has the authority under the US Constitution’s Property Clause to regulate presidential records as federal property.
The Presidential Records Act was passed following the Watergate scandal and requires presidential records to be preserved and eventually transferred to the National Archives.
According to Politico, the ruling effectively orders White House aides to disregard the OLC opinion, which had claimed the law improperly interfered with presidential authority.
Bates criticized the Justice Department’s legal reasoning, calling it a “stark misreading” of Supreme Court precedent. He also rejected arguments that presidential documents should remain personal property simply because they were historically treated that way before the law was enacted in 1978.
The judge noted that the Trump administration itself complied with the Presidential Records Act during Trump’s first term in office.
Under the ruling, White House personnel must continue preserving official records and communications related to government business. However, Bates stopped short of directly ordering Trump or Vice President JD Vance to comply, citing longstanding legal principles limiting courts from directly enjoining a sitting president in performing official duties.
The injunction also excludes the National Archives, the Department of Justice, and the attorney general. The order will take effect on May 26, giving the administration time to seek intervention from a higher court.
The lawsuits were filed in April by watchdog organizations including American Oversight and the American Historical Association after the OLC memo suggested Trump had the authority to destroy presidential records or retain them for personal use.
American Oversight described the ruling as “an important victory for presidential accountability.”
“The court recognized the serious danger posed by the administration’s attempt to cast aside longstanding federal law governing presidential records,” executive director Chioma Chukwu said in a statement.
Sarah Weicksel, executive director of the American Historical Association, said the ruling reaffirmed that presidential records belong to the public rather than any individual president.
The White House criticized the decision. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Politico that the ruling “fundamentally misunderstands the Administration’s position,” adding that the administration remains confident it will ultimately prevail.
Jackson also stated that the White House does not allow aides to delete electronic records and will continue enforcing internal record-preservation policies.
It remains unclear whether the Trump administration will appeal the ruling.
Read: US Senate Advances Measure to Limit Trump's Iran War Powers
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