Trump administration asks appeals court to throw out presidential records law
Lawyers for the Trump administration were scheduled to argue on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, before a federal appeals court in Washington that material created in the White House belongs to Donald Trump and not to the American people.
Three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the federal appeals court for Washington cases, were set to hear the dispute over the Presidential Records Act, a federal law in place since 1978, according to NPR.
The Justice Department has moved to invalidate the law. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, sued over that effort.
Senior U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled against the Trump White House on the issue earlier in 2026. Bates was appointed by former President George W. Bush.
In court papers, the administration said keeping White House records imposes a burden on the White House and could chill advisers from having honest conversations with the president. White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said the Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional and a clear violation of the separation of powers.
At stake is an order requiring the White House to preserve records, according to American Oversight. That group said a watchdog group and historians headed to the appeals court to defend the law.
A bipartisan group of 25 former senior national security officials urged the appeals court to uphold the law, according to Homeland Security Today.
The case follows a separate fight over records from Trump's first term. Trump was indicted on obstruction of justice charges for allegedly stockpiling classified documents in a bathroom, ballroom and office at his Mar-a-Lago resort. A federal judge threw out that case on technical grounds related to the prosecutor's appointment, and the Justice Department dropped the case after Trump won reelection.
