USAID staffers ordered to shred, burn classified documents: official

Remaining staffers at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have been ordered to start burning and shredding classified records as the Trump administration forges ahead with dismantling the agency, an internal directive shows.

In a Tuesday email to staffers, USAID acting executive director Erica Carr called for an “all day” effort to help destroy sensitive agency documents at the all-but-shuttered headquarters in Washington, DC.

“Thank you for your assistance in clearing our classified safes and personnel documents,” began the email, which bore an USAID logo.

“Shred as many documents first,” the email continued, adding that staffers should stuff remaining classified material into designated “burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break.”

Staffers were also told to write “secret” on the burn bags with a marker.

The email did not elaborate on why the documents should be destroyed.

The State Department, which is absorbing much of USAID’s functions, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, a union for USAID workers has asked a federal judge to halt any destruction of classified documents to preserve evidence as lawsuits begin to pile up over the abrupt shutdown of the 64-year-old agency.

President Trump quickly moved to start dismantling USAID after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) flagged widespread waste.

The Trump administration has 83% of USAID’s humanitarian and development programs abroad — pulling all but a few hundred staffers off the job and shuttering the agency’s DC headquarters.

The American Foreign Service Association, a group representing USAID workers, said it feared the documents being destroyed could be relevant to the ongoing lawsuits over the firings and program terminations.

News of the classified documents at USAID emerged last month when the agency’s top two security officials were put on leave by the Trump administration after they refused to grant DOGE members access to the material.

With Post wires

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