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A senior USAID official on Tuesday ordered the agency's remaining staff to report to their now-former headquarters in Washington DC for an "all day" group effort to destroy documents, many of which contain sensitive information, Politico reports.

A worker removes the U.S. Agency for International Development sign on their headquarters on Feb. 7, 2025, in Washington, D.C. | Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

The materials marked for destruction include "classified safes and personnel documents" at the Ronald Reagan Building, according to an email sent by USAID's acting executive director, Erica Carr.

"Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break," read the email instructing staff to label the burn bags with "SECRET" and "USAID/B/IO" (which stands for "bureau or independent office") in dark sharpie.

According to the report, the email did not provide any reasoning for the document destruction, however the building is currently being emptied out after mass layoffs, which may have disrupted the routine destruction of materials. 

According to a former USAID staffer, "I’ve never seen something like this — en masse. Everyone with a safe is supposed to keep it up to date and destroy documents when they no longer need to be stored. Sometimes security will check your safe and tell you if you have to clean out old material."

Developing…