USAID Staff Ordered to Destroy Records, Court Filing Says

The White House said the instruction was sent to only 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 instructions 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.