USAID Staff Ordered to Destroy Records, Court Filing Says

The White House said the instruction was sent only to about three dozen employees, and that the documents that were being destroyed were old.

The lobby of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) headquarters in Washington on Feb. 3, 2025. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Some U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees have received instruction to empty classified safes and destroy agency records, according to a court filing on March 11 by employee unions.

The Democracy Forward and Public Citizen Litigation Group filed an emergency motion on behalf of the unions for a temporary restraining order to stop any destruction of evidence within USAID.

In its motion, the unions included a screenshot of an email from USAID’s acting executive secretary, Erica Carr, directing employees to clear out “classified safes and personnel documents” from the agency’s office in the Ronald Reagan Building starting 9.30 a.m. on Tuesday.

“Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break,” Carr wrote in the email. The contents of the documents are unclear.

The unions alleged that Carr’s directive violates the Federal Records Act (FRA), which requires federal agencies to preserve internal records, and could destroy documents pertinent to their litigation to block the Trump administration from dismantling USAID.

“This directive suggests a rapid destruction of agency records on a large scale that could not plausibly involve a reasoned assessment of the records retention obligations for the relevant documents under the FRA or in relation to this ongoing litigation,” they stated.

The motion states that the plaintiffs had sought information from the Trump administration about the destruction efforts at USAID and were told the matter was under investigation.

However, the unions requested that the court intervene to stop the agency from destroying any documents while their litigation is ongoing.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly stated on social media that the email was sent to “roughly three dozen employees” and that the documents being destroyed were outdated.

“The documents involved were old, mostly courtesy content (content from other agencies), and the originals still exist on classified computer systems,” she stated on the social media platform X about the concerns.

Kelly also stated that the USAID building would soon be occupied by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), one of the unions in the court filing, said it was alarmed by reports of document shredding at USAID and urged the agency’s leadership to fully adhere to federal records preservation laws.

“AFSA is closely monitoring this situation and urges USAID leadership to provide immediate clarity on this directive,” the organization said in a statement.

AFSA, along with the American Federation of Government Employees and Oxfam America, filed a separate motion on March 10 to block the dismantling of USAID under President Donald Trump, alleging that it violates the Constitution and federal laws.

USAID is an independent agency established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 through the Foreign Assistance Act. The agency is responsible for administering U.S. foreign aid and development assistance.

After taking office on Jan. 20, Trump announced a 90-day freeze on all foreign aid and development funding, pending reviews to ensure that the programs aligned with U.S. interests under his “America First” policy umbrella. The move sparked multiple legal challenges from unions and lawmakers, who alleged that the funding freeze was unconstitutional.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as acting USAID administrator, stated on March 10 that about 83 percent, 0r 5,200, of USAID contracts have been canceled. These contracts “did not serve (and in some cases harmed) the core national interests of the United States,” he said.

Rubio said the remaining 1,000 contracts will be retained.

The agency’s website was taken offline following Trump’s executive order. USAID has instructed thousands of its employees to cease work, placing them on paid administrative leave except for those handling “mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs.”