CBS 60 Minutes: “The National Archives has been in the news lately, not so much for what is in its collection, but for what was missing. After former President Donald Trump and then-Vice President Biden held on to records when they left office that should have been sent to the Archives… we wanted to know more… about the small federal agency in charge of safeguarding America’s past. After a few months inside, we came to appreciate that the Archives are the country’s safety deposit box, reading room, and paper shredder rolled into one. At the heart of the institution are the documents that have been at the heart of the nation, for nearly 250 years….

The Archives’ goal to scan and digitize all 13-and-a-half billion paper records in its collection seems ambitious. Only 2% of their holdings are currently available online. We obtained a recent memo drafted by senior leaders at the agency, who are concerned limited resources have put it at “serious risk” of “mission failure.”