Change comes after almost a year at the helm of the body responsible for US historical records
The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, stopped performing one of the additional functions he held during Donald Trump’s government when step down as acting archivist of the United Statessaid a spokesperson for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) this Wednesday (11).
His departure comes after almost a year in command of the body that keeps the federal government’s official records and highlights the broad accumulation of positions that Rubio had been playing in the administration .
Rubio, who previously served simultaneously as secretary of state and national security advisor, was placed in interim command of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) following the firing of then-archivist Colleen Shogan in 2025. The archivist’s role includes supervision of the preservation of historical documentspresidential records and official documents such as the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and other archives central to the country’s history.
The change was made official in compliance with the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, a law that limits the time an employee can temporarily occupy a position that would normally require Senate confirmation. The legislation provides for a limit on days — extended in certain circumstances — for an officer without permanent confirmation to perform duties in leadership positions. After this period expired, Rubio had to leave his position.
Before ending his work at NARA, Rubio delegated his responsibilities at the agency to James Byrona senior advisor within the National Archives administration, who will continue in the role on an interim basis.
Accumulation of functions
Rubio, a Cuban-born politician and member of the Republican Party from Miami, confirmed his nomination as US Secretary of State in January 2025, after having served as a senator from Florida for more than a decade. As soon as he took over as head of American diplomacy in He was also appointed to lead other interim positions, including national security advisor and administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The accumulation of so many functions generated attention in political circles and the press, which even called Rubio “secretary of everything”, in reference to the number of roles he began to play simultaneously in the government. The concentration of several responsibilities in a single officer raised debates about the ability to manage so many strategic posts and the risks to administrative efficiency.
The role of the National Archives
Rubio’s departure from interim command of NARA also rekindles the institutional importance of the organization, which came under the spotlight in recent years after its role in the case of presidential documents kept at then-president Donald Trump’s private residence in Mar-a-Lago. In 2022, NARA alerted the Department of Justice to the presence of official documents, which ended prompting an investigation and subsequent FBI search of the property.
The role of the archivist is essential to ensuring that official documents are preserved, accessible and properly transferred between administrations, a role that has gained relevance following storage crises and litigation involving presidential records.
Next steps
With the delegation of responsibilities to advisor James Byron, NARA continues without a permanent archivist confirmed by the Senate, which makes the leadership position transitional until a new appointment is made and approved. Meanwhile, Rubio continues to lead the State Department and maintains his role as national security advisor, accumulating significant political weight within the administration.
The formal exit from this role symbolizes not only the Temporary end to a chapter in Rubio’s careerbut also reignites debate over the federal management of critical agencies, the governance of official records, and the balance between executive authority and legislative oversight in the context of interim positions within the United States government.
*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Jovem Pan.
