As USAID clears out, official directs employees to use shredders, burn bags on documents

A senior official with the embattled United States Agency for International Development sent an email Tuesday to remaining bureau leaders with guidance on “clearing our classified safes and personnel documents” at the aid agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, according to a copy of the email obtained by ABC News.

The message urged officials to “shred as many documents first” and to “reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break,” according to the email, sent by Erica Carr, the acting executive secretary.

“The only labeling required on the burn bags are the words ‘SECRET’ and ‘USAID/(B/IO)’ in dark sharpie, if possible,” the email said.

It was not immediately clear why the message was sent, but some current and former USAID officials speculated that it has to do with clearing out office space that is expected to be taken over by Customs and Border Patrol, as Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, announced on X last month.

Musk, who last month said, without evidence, that “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die,” has been overseeing the dismantling of the agency.

Proponents of the aid organization said it serves as a crucial partner in combatting deadly disease, famine, and humanitarian relief in some of the poorest parts of the world. The Trump administration has laid off thousands of workers and ordered a spending freeze on programs and grants across the globe

A person familiar with USAID’s work said that “specialized shredding and burn bags are standard procedures to destroy classified printouts and notes.” But the person added that this seems to be a “shoddy process” that might run afoul of the Federal Records Act, which dictates that federal agencies must consult the national archivist before destroying documents.

It also remains unclear whether those ordered to destroy these records have the appropriate clearance to review them before determining whether they should be disposed.

“The event will take place all day” on Tuesday, the email read.

The directive to destroy classified records came a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced plans to cancel 83% of USAID programs and move the remaining work to “be administered more effectively under the State Department.”

Representatives from DOGE, the State Department and USAID did not respond to requests for comment from ABC News.

As news reports about the directive emerged Tuesday, the American Federation of Government Employees, a union that is suing the Trump administration over its cuts to the federal workforce, asked a federal judge to intervene and prevent the agency from “destroying documents with potential pertinence to this litigation.”

“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 [Federal Records Act] or in relation to this ongoing litigation,” the motion read.