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The independent agency and its trove of historic records have been the subject of Hollywood films and the foundation of research and policy. It also holds responsibilities in processes that are crucial for democracy, from amending the Constitution to electing a president. As the nation鈥檚 recordkeeper, the Archives tells the story of America 鈥� its founding, breakdowns, mistakes and triumphs.

Former employees of the agency now worry it's becoming politicized.

Last month, the Republican president abruptly fired the head archivist. Since then, several senior staffers at the Archives have quit or retired. An unknown number of staffers at the agency also accepted government-offered deferred resignations, often known as buyouts, or been fired because of their probationary status.

What does the National Archives do?

Everything that happens in the government, domestically and internationally, generates records. The National Archives is their final landing spot.

Among those are the nation鈥檚 precious founding documents, including the original Constitution and Declaration of Independence. The collection also includes military personnel files that allow veterans to get benefits, employment and tax records, maps, drawings, photographs, electronic records and more.

The archivist of the United States is the steward of those billions of records, which belong to the American people, said James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association.

Besides its museum in Washington, the agency manages field offices and presidential libraries around the country. It also authenticates and certifies new constitutional amendments and houses the Office of the Federal Register, which, among other things, verifies electoral certificates during presidential elections.

Why is Trump targeting the agency?

The president didn鈥檛 give a public reason for firing archivist Colleen Shogan, but he has long held a grudge against the agency for notifying the Justice Department of his alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left office following his first term.

That 2022 referral led to an FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and a federal indictment against him. A federal judge dismissed the case last year.

Shogan wasn鈥檛 working for the agency at the time. Still, Trump fired her abruptly on Feb. 7 without giving a reason, she said in a social media post.

The Society of American Archivists said its leadership was alarmed by the news and said the firing with no stated cause "does harm to our nation and its people."

The president is allowed to dismiss the head of the agency, but none has done so quite as brazenly as Trump. The closest historical precedent was in 2004, said Anthony Clark, who oversaw the National Archives as a senior staffer on the House Oversight Committee and authored a book about presidential libraries.

That year, archivist John Carlin resigned and revealed in a letter to a U.S. senator that he had been asked to do so by President George W. Bush's Republican White House.

The president is required by law to notify Congress of the reasons for the firing, but he isn鈥檛 bound to a timeline. House and Senate leaders didn鈥檛 respond to The Associated Press' inquiries about whether Trump had shared that information. The Senate committee that has appropriations jurisdiction over the Archives was not told of Shogan's firing beforehand, nor has it been told of a replacement, a congressional staff member said.

What鈥檚 happening inside the Archives now?

Trump announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is serving as the acting archivist, while former Nixon Foundation President Jim Byron, on leave from the foundation, is handling the agency鈥檚 day-to-day business as a senior adviser.

William 鈥淛ay鈥� Bosanko, the deputy archivist who had been slated to take over Shogan鈥檚 duties until the Senate approved the president鈥檚 new pick, has retired, said Andrew Denham, Shogan鈥檚 former executive assistant. Denham left the agency last week through a government buyout. He said other senior staff also have left, including a former senior adviser to Shogan, the chief of staff and the agency鈥檚 inspector general.

Denham said he believes Bosanko and other senior staffers were pushed out. Bosanko had been part of the agency鈥檚 senior executive team during the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago.

鈥淔rom my perspective, it was a witch hunt for anybody who was in a leadership position at the National Archives that their jobs were no longer safe,鈥� Denham said. 鈥淗e was no longer welcome.鈥�

What's next?

In a recent email to National Archives staff reviewed by the AP, Byron emphasized the importance of the agency's work and specifically its transparency. He called attention to the Declaration of Independence's upcoming 250th anniversary, as well as Trump's executive order for the release of files related to three major political assassinations, which the agency will facilitate.

Byron's email also said the National Archives is 鈥渟trategically examining its operations agencywide to ensure that it makes the best use of the funds it has been given by the American taxpayers and that all of its operations closely track with its mission and congressional statutes.鈥�

The agency did not respond to AP inquiries about how staffing cuts have affected its work or about what its internal review will entail.

Next, Trump is tasked with picking a new head of the Archives, whom the Senate will vote to confirm.

鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that they get an archivist who is nonpartisan, who looks at the letter of the law when making the decisions that need to be made,鈥� Denham said. 鈥淭his is tough, because I think he鈥檚 putting people in positions who are going to do his will.鈥�

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

What influence could a new archivist have?

The person leading the National Archives has discretion over which records to preserve and how. The risk is that an archivist whose primary loyalty is to Trump could be biased in those decisions, leaving behind a skewed picture of history for future generations, according to several past employees of the Archives who talked to the AP.

That could affect what's preserved from Trump supporters' Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, for example, or the current overhaul of federal agencies, said Thomas Brown, whose work at the agency before he retired included some of its early efforts to identify and preserve electronic records.

"It pains me to think that I spent 30 years trying to build something and enhance the reputation of the National Archives to see it pulled down by political ideology," he said.

Trump鈥檚 words and actions demonstrate he will choose a new archivist who will be loyal to him, Clark said.

鈥淪o when there is a conflict between what the president wants and the law requires 鈥� say, regarding access to presidential records, destruction of records, preservation of records that document the president鈥檚 duties, control of classified information throughout the executive branch, publication of the Federal Register, or the Archivist鈥檚 purely ministerial duties related to constitutional amendments and electoral votes 鈥� whoever serves as Archivist must serve his interests, and not uphold the law,鈥� he said.

The Office of the Federal Register reviews the electoral certificates sent in from the states. The archivist wouldn鈥檛 have the authority to force the office to reject a slate of electors but could disrupt the process, said Daniel Weiner, director of the Brennan Center鈥檚 elections and government program.

鈥淎nd anything that shows disruption and uncertainty in the process is not helpful for our democracy and is dangerous,鈥� Weiner said.

A Trump-aligned archivist might also be less inclined to enforce the Presidential Records Act or ask questions if Trump leaves office with troves of classified documents, said Norm Eisen, executive chair of the State Democracy Defenders Fund.

Jim McSweeney, who worked for the Archives for about 40 years before retiring in 2022, said the agency's role is to preserve all historically valuable records, 鈥済ood, bad and ugly, warts and all.鈥�