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.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has instructed its remaining staff to shred and burn documents in an unprecedented move amid the agency’s ongoing dismantling under the Trump administration.
"Defendants are, as this motion is being filed, destroying documents with potential pertinence to this litigation," the motion stated. A Trump administration official stated that three dozen employees received the email and that the materials being destroyed were "courtesy content"—documents given to USAID by other agencies.
