Key Senate panel advances Biden's pick for National Archivist after two heated hearings
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WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden's nominee to serve as archivist of the National Archives and Records Administration is one step closer to becoming the first woman to permanently run the apolitical agency in the crosshairs of national partisan controversy.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted Wednesday in support of Colleen Shogan's nomination by a roll call vote of 8-4. She now faces a full Senate vote before assuming the position.
Shogan's nomination follows two heated committee hearings where Republicans criticized her for being too partisan and comes after the discovery of classified documents at the homes of Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.
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Shogan's nomination advances after two committee hearings
The committee held Shogan's first nomination hearing in September, weeks after the FBI searched former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate for classified records. She was attacked as being an "extreme partisan," and the seven Republicans on the committee voted against her.
Biden renominated Shogan in January, but senators serving on the committee expressed little urgency in advancing her nomination. The committee scheduled a second hearing at the end of February, hours after USA TODAY published a story detailing how the nomination had been languishing.
During the February hearing, Shogan was lambasted for posts on her social media accounts and was accused of lying under oath by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
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Hawley references whistleblower complaints, calls to postpone vote
At the hearing Wednesday, Hawley said his office was in touch with a former employee of Shogan who worked with her at the Congressional Research Service and alleged Shogan engaged in partisan conduct and abusive behavior, made unsolicited statements supporting political candidates in the workplace, attempted to organize signing events of her book on federal property and engaged in “a pattern of abuse, retaliation and persecution” by undermining a promotion and failing to discipline subordinates who made racially derogatory remarks.
Committee staff questioned Shogan on these allegations, according to Hawley, and Shogan referred them to the Congressional Research Service for documents related to the accusations. Hawley said he sent a letter Tuesday asking for relevant documents and called for postponing the final committee vote until reviewing the materials.
“I think we should get them and look at them and do our due diligence on these whistleblower allegations,” he said.
Who is Colleen Shogan?
Shogan, 47, graduated from Yale and is a government historian who has spent over 15 years working in the federal government, including holding a management position at the nonprofit White House Historical Association since 2020 – a position she first held under the Trump administration.
Previously, she worked for the Library of Congress and its research arm and also led government historical commissions. Shogan has taught at Georgetown University and the University of Pennsylvania.
What happens next?
Shogan's nomination heads to the full Senate where she needs a simple majority for her nomination to move forward. It is likely Shogan will be confirmed given the Democratic majority in the Senate.
Shogan also has the backing of West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who introduced Shogan at her first September hearing before the committee.
“I think she would be a good archivist,” she told USA TODAY in February.
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What is the role of the national archivist?
The National Archives safeguards federal records including historical documents such as the Constitution. The agency also manages records created during a presidency and protects classified documents.
The agency has been under the spotlight in the last six months over the classified document discoveries at the homes of Biden, Trump and Pence. Analysts have said the National Archives is underfunded and overwhelmed and the system of protecting classified documents needs to be improved.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Archives nominee Colleen Shogan one step closer to becoming archivist
