The Public Interest Declassification Board held an in-person executive session on May 20, 2026, at the National Archives in Washington, DC. The meeting was attended by PIDB members Mark Angelson, Carter Burwell, Ezra Cohen, Valdez Demings, Carmen Medina, John McCarthy, and Alissa Starzak.
John Powers, Acting Director, Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State opened the session with a briefing. Powers shared insights from his work on the Argentina Declassification Project and discussed effective strategies for declassification efforts. Board members then spent the balance of the meeting on an assessment of currently classified records, voting to provide declassification recommendations to the President relating to the materials under review. The meeting concluded with a discussion on preparations for the upcoming Open Meeting.