Last April, I blogged the flap over the Bush administration's attempt to replace the Archivist of the United States, something that looks suspiciously like an attempt to have a hand-picked successor on hand next January, which when the GHW Bush administration papers become potentially open to public viewing. The Washington Post has an article on the issue, which includes a thumbnail of the proposed new Archivist's confirmation hearings. It has to be said that he doesn't sound so bad…although why the Bush people wanted to push out the incumbent early remains very mysterious.
Recent Bluessky Posts- Any DOJ settlement that gives the President a dollar -- or a direct material benefit -- is a plain-as-day violation of the Presidential Emoluments Clause: "The President shall not receive ... any other Emolument from the United States, or any of [the states]." Art II, S.1, cl. 7. May 20, 2026 Jed H. Shugerman
- It cannot bind, because you cannot rely to your detriment on a promise you make to yourself. The document itself is an unconstitutional violation of the presidential oath. May 19, 2026 James Grimmelmann
- Historian here this is literally about gutting the Reconstruction amendments especially the consequential 14th amendment piece by piece. May 19, 2026 Manisha Sinha
- Jotwell Contracts: Orit Gan, Ordinary Contract Law, JOTWELL (May 19, 2026) (reviewing Cathy Hwang & Justin Weinstein-Tull, Contract Law and Civil Justice in Local Courts, 2026 Wis. L. Rev. 1 (2026)), contracts.jotwell.com/ordinary-con.... May 19, 2026 Jotwell
- Jotwell Courtslaw: Suzette M. Malveaux, Resilience and Judicial Power in the Aftermath of Trump v. CASA, JOTWELL (May 18, 2026) (reviewing Mila Sohoni, In CASA You Missed It, 78 Stan. L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2026), available at SSRN (Nov. 25, 2025)), courtslaw.jotwell.com/resilience-a.... May 18, 2026 Jotwell
If you don’t think the fix is in, I have a small, but valuable bridge in Brooklyn to sell you
there’s also something about the 9// papers (the unclassifed ones) becoming available – or not – during the new term of the new archivist. I posted about it here.
John Dean has pointed out that documents from the Bush 41 administation are due for release and Bush 41 has issued an executive order that allows a variety of people to restrict release of documents from prior adminstrations. The executive order conflicts with the statute authorizing document release after twelve years. I’m not sure who has standing to force release of docments, but it seems the Archivist may be the primary positions with the authority to release documents and challenge the executive order.
Congress may be able to challenge restriction of documents, but it the challenge to Bush 41’s executive order may need to be generated by a Republican controlled committee. A Bush Archivist might be far less likely to challenge the executive order that allows not only Bush 41, but members of his administration and Bush family members to object to document release.