Judge Asked to Intervene After USAID Workers Were Reportedly Told to Destroy Classified Documents

A union for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contractors asked a federal judge to intervene after an email instructed its staff in Washington to shred and burn specific documents. The agency has been the center of focus in recent weeks as the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues its mission to shrink the size of government.

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

"Defendants are, as this motion is being filed, destroying documents with potential pertinence to this litigation," the motion said.

"Although Plaintiffs do not know at this moment which records are being destroyed, the destruction of records may severely undermine the agency's ability to function. For example, destruction of records that contain information about the agency's operation may make it extraordinarily difficult— if not impossible— to recreate and rebuild agency programming" if their lawsuit is successful, reads a passage of the filing.

The request for the judge came after the agency instructed its staff to destroy classified documents. The document destruction was set to take place Tuesday, according to an email from Erica Carr, the agency's acting executive secretary. It is unclear how many people received the email, which thanked workers for their "assistance in clearing our classified safes and personnel documents."

"Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break," Carr wrote.

The documents being destroyed could have relevance to multiple court cases that have been filed against the Trump administration and the aid agency over the mass firing and sudden relocation of employees, the rapid dismantlement of the agency and a freeze on almost all foreign aid money, The New York Times reports.

It is unclear if Carr or any other official at USAID got permission from the National Archives and Records Administration to destroy the documents. The Federal Records Act of 1950 requires U.S. government officials to ask the records administration for approval before destroying documents.

The aid agency employs nearly 2,000 career diplomats, known as Foreign Service officers, and they are represented by the union. Diplomats generally destroy large numbers of documents only when an embassy or other post is about to be overrun by a hostile force. Some diplomats who got Ms. Carr's email on Monday night called union officials after becoming anxious over the sudden request, according to the Times.

The Trump administration has not been shy to take steps at dismantling the agency, cutting off most federal funding and terminating 83% of humanitarian and development programs abroad and shutting down the agency's Washington headquarters in Washington D.C.