U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees and outside groups are fighting an order from the agency’s leadership to shred and burn its classified documents as well as personnel records.

An email obtained by The Hill sent by USAID’s acting executive secretary instructs remaining employees at the dismantled agencies to “shred as many documents as possible first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break.”

The move alarmed those fighting to restore the agency — who stressed the destruction could run afoul of public records laws and hinder any efforts to rehire employees.

It has also raised questions over whether it will impact the ability of the public to scrutinize the role the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) played at USAID.

In two different suits, an organization representing USAID employees along with one representing contractors asked judges for a restraining order to block the agency from destroying the documents — arguing it could impact ongoing litigation and violate their obligation to retain relevant evidence.

“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 American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) said in its suit.

The Personal Services Contractor Association in its suit said Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys have “not confirmed or denied or explained” the order.

They also asked “how and why burning and........

© The Hill