White House Dismisses USAID Document Purge Concerns as ‘Hysteria’

The White House dismissed concerns that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is instructing employees to destroy classified documents amid efforts by the Trump administration to shutter the agency.

According to a motion filed by government unions in federal court on Tuesday, USAID’s interim Executive Secretary, Erica Carr, ordered employees to shred and burn documents.

The documents are still available on the computer systems. According to White House spokesperson Anna Kelly, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will soon move into USAID’s building.

Kelly stated in a post on Tuesday evening X regarding Carr’s orders, “This order was sent out to about three dozen employees. The documents were mostly old, courtesy material (content from another agency), and originals are still on classified computer systems. More fake news and hysteria!”

An administration official said on Wednesday that everyone involved in the elimination of the documents held a security clearance at least as high as secret. They were also not placed on administrative leave.

The official explained that the people involved in the purge were chosen by the agency because they knew the contents of the files and had been trained to do so.

In February, thousands of USAID employees were fired or put on administrative leave following the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) recommendations to cut wasteful expenditures.

ProPublica reported that Carr sent an email instructing employees to “shred the most documents possible first and save the burning bags for the times when the shredder is unavailable or requires a rest.”

The American Foreign Service Association, which represents those in the U.S. Foreign Service, and other groups, has filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., a motion requesting that a temporary injunction be issued to prevent USAID from ordering its employees to destroy any documents.

The groups argued in their filing that Carr’s order “suggests an immediate destruction of records at a massive scale, which could not plausibly include a rational assessment of records retention obligations.”

The American Foreign Service Association stated that it will monitor the situation and asked officials from USAID for more information on the Directive.

The American Foreign Service Association issued a statement on Tuesday stating that “Federal Law is clear”: preservation of records of the government is vital to transparency, accountability, and integrity of the legal system.

The statement stated, “the Federal Records Act of 1951 and its implementation regulations set strict requirements for the preservation of official documents, especially those which may be pertinent to legal proceedings.” “Furthermore, the illegal destruction of federal documents could have serious legal implications for those directed to violate the law.”

Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, announced on Tuesday that after a review of six weeks, the State Department would be canceling more than 80 percent of USAID’s programs.