(TheConservativeTimes.org) – Amid the Trump administration’s dismantling of the agency, USAID officials have ordered employees to shred and burn classified documents.
The directive came via email from USAID acting executive secretary Erica Carr, instructing staff to clear out classified safes and personnel documents through shredding or incineration.
Staff were given specific instructions: “Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break,” Carr wrote in the email.
The timing of this document purge has raised red flags among those who have long criticized USAID’s multi-billion dollar foreign aid programs.
The agency, which once managed a $40 billion budget with over 10,000 staff, has been dramatically downsized under President Donald Trump’s second term.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has confirmed that 83% of USAID programs have been canceled.
The White House has defended the destruction of documents. Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly stated that the records being destroyed are “old, mostly courtesy content (content from other agencies), and the originals still exist on classified computer systems.”
Kelly also noted that U.S. Customs and Border Protection will soon occupy the USAID building, suggesting the move is simply part of the transition process.
This dramatic reorganization comes as part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to trim government waste.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been specifically tasked with eliminating USAID due to waste, resulting in significant layoffs and administrative leave for most staff.
The agency’s dismantling represents a major victory for fiscal conservatives who have long criticized American taxpayer dollars being sent overseas while domestic needs go unmet.
Meanwhile, liberal groups have filed legal challenges against the destruction of documents.
Democracy Forward and Public Citizen Litigation Group have filed a motion seeking to halt what they claim is unlawful destruction of federal records.
These left-leaning organizations appear concerned that their allies in the foreign aid community are losing their grip on power and the massive budgets they once controlled.
For American taxpayers who have watched billions flow overseas through USAID programs while domestic infrastructure crumbled, the agency’s dismantling represents the fulfillment of Trump’s “America First” promises.
The administration is demonstrating its commitment to national security and fiscal responsibility by redirecting resources from foreign aid to border protection.
The document destruction controversy highlights the ongoing battle between the Trump administration’s reform agenda and entrenched bureaucratic interests that have long controlled America’s foreign aid apparatus.
As the shredders run and burn bags fill at USAID headquarters, Americans are watching another wasteful government agency that is being brought to heel.
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