An email sent to roughly three dozen U.S. Agency for International Development staffers instructed them to “shred or burn” records as they clear out of the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, D.C. to make way for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to move in.
"Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break," the email from USAID acting executive secretary Erica Carr reads. “If you need to use the burn bags, do not overfill, and ensure the burn bag can be closed with staples at the top. The only labeling required on the burn bags are the words 'SECRET' and 'USAID/(B/IO)' in dark sharpie if possible. If you need additional burn bags or sharpie markers, please let me or the SEC InfoSec team know."
An administration official told CBS News the process was "fully compliant" with the Federal Records Act.
White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly sought to downplay the “hysteria” over the report.
"The USAID building will soon be occupied by CBP. This was sent to roughly three dozen employees," she wrote on X. "The documents involved were old, mostly courtesy content (content from other agencies), and the originals still exist on classified computer systems. More fake news hysteria!"
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The USAID building will soon be occupied by CBP.
— Anna Kelly (@AnnaKelly47) March 11, 2025
This was sent to roughly three dozen employees. The documents involved were old, mostly courtesy content (content from other agencies), and the originals still exist on classified computer systems.
More fake news hysteria! https://t.co/MLP84Mvn0t
On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a majority of programs at USAID will be canceled.
“After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID,” he said. “The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States.
“In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we are keeping (approximately 1000) to now be administered more effectively under the State Department,” Rubio added. “Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.”
