Tim Phillips States AARO Lacks Cabinet-Level Authority to Classify Information

Christopher Sharp reports comments from an interview with former acting AARO director Tim Phillips earlier in 2026. Phillips said AARO used classification guides from other agencies to make derivative classification decisions, rather than exercising its own original classification authority. Sharp published the remarks on October 15; that is not the established date of the interview. This is original interview reporting, subsequently shared and discussed on social media. It documents Phillips’s explanation of AARO’s process, not an independent audit of how the office handled any particular submission. The distinction between original and derivative classification matters: relying on another agency’s guide does not mean information submitted to AARO could never be treated as classified.