By Brendan Pierson
(Reuters) – Government worker unions on Thursday dropped their motion to block the U.S. Agency for International Development from shredding documents in the agency’s now-shuttered offices after being assured by Trump administration lawyers that no personnel records had been destroyed.
They also received assurances that they would be notified and have a chance to object before any further documents are destroyed.
The unions, which are suing President Donald Trump’s administration over its rapid dismantling of USAID, had asked a judge for an order blocking the destruction of documents after agency staff were instructed by email to come into the office for “clearing classified safes and personnel documents” and be prepared to shred or burn the documents.
The unions said that could violate federal record-keeping law, destroy evidence relevant to their lawsuit or destroy personnel records that would be needed if the foreign aid agency were eventually ordered to reopen.
But in a court filing on Thursday, they said they were dropping their motion after Justice Department lawyers told them that the documents were largely from other agencies and were no longer needed.
No personnel files have been destroyed, and any documents that must legally be preserved still exist on computer systems, according to the administration.
Under Trump, the USAID agency has scrapped more than 80% of its programs and fired much of its staff. The federal judge presiding over the unions’ lawsuit last month allowed the administration to go forward with its plan to put more than 2,000 USAID employees on leave.
In a separate lawsuit brought by USAID contractors and grant recipients, a federal judge on Monday ruled that the Trump administration cannot refuse to spend foreign aid money appropriated by Congress, although the judge stopped short of restoring canceled contracts.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; editing by Amy Stevens and Deepa Babington)
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