Marco Rubio was confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of State on January 20th. On February 3rd, President Trump made him the Acting Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Then in February, Trump made Rubio Acting Archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), after he fired the previous Archivist.

Rubio is not the first government official to serve in multiple roles. In fact, this has been a feature of both of Trump’s terms, as one of the many haphazard and chaotic aspects of the Trump presidency. In his first term, Trump made then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin the Governor of the International Monetary Fund and appointed four inspectors general to dual roles, in some cases creating conflicts of interest. This term, Trump has also made Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins the Acting Director of the Office of Government Ethics.

Occupying two (or in Rubio’s case, three) roles at once is never ideal—directing government agencies and programs is a significant task that demands attention and focus. But Rubio’s current positions are uniquely concerning. As Administrator of USAID, Rubio is overseeing the unprecedented, rapid and potentially illegal dismantling of an agency that just a month ago had over 10,000 people on staff and a typical budget of $40 billion.

As DOGE and Musk take a slash-and-burn approach to USAID, significant concerns are being raised about the preservation of the agency’s records. Under the Federal Records Act, agencies are required to follow certain requirements, including that they notify the National Archivist if records may be or have been unlawfully destroyed. If an agency has allegedly illegally destroyed federal records, NARA then tracks the allegation and communicates with the agency to resolve the issue. If necessary, the Archivist will refer the matter to the Department of Justice for investigation.

This is where Rubio’s multiple appointments come to a head: how can he be both the administrator of an agency that may be failing to follow the Federal Records Act and be the nation’s archivist, responsible for ensuring that agencies follow that very law?

Either Rubio needs to step down from one of these roles, or DOGE needs to stop violating federal records laws. We brought a lawsuit against DOGE to ensure the latter, but in the meantime, Congress and the public should demand that Rubio stop wearing so many hats.