Staff at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have been told to shred and burn classified documents and personnel files.

The request raised alarm among employees and labour groups amid the ongoing dismantling of the agency.

Acting Executive Secretary Erica Y Carr sent an email that thanked staff for clearing out classified safes and personnel documents from a Washington DC office and told them to meet in the building’s lobby for an all-day disposal event on Tuesday.

“Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes available or needs a break,” her email to staff read.

Typically, documents placed in burn bags for disposal are sealed and then taken to a secure site for incineration.

The email asked staff not to overfill the burn bags and label them with the words “SECRET” and “USAID (B/IO)” – which stands for bureau, or independent office – using permanent markers.

The BBC has viewed a copy of the email, which was also reported by its US partner, CBS News. It was first reported by ProPublica.

The US State Department did not immediately return a request for comment.

It was not immediately clear if the agency had preserved copies of the documents marked for destruction.

The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), a union representing USAID staff, was aware employees had been asked to shred documents, spokesperson Nikki Gamer told the BBC.

The union said it was “alarmed” by the reports and warned that such documents “may be relevant to ongoing litigation regarding the termination of USAID employees and the cessation of USAID grants”.

The Trump administration faces multiple lawsuits over its dismantling of USAID, which began shortly after Trump took office in January. Unions and other groups have challenged the administration’s power to shut down an agency and freeze funds that had been established and approved by the US Congress.

AFSA noted that federal law dictates that government records must be preserved as they are “essential to transparency, accountability, and the integrity of the legal process”.

The union warned that ” the unlawful destruction of federal records could carry serious legal consequences for anyone directed to act in violation of the law.”

Government agencies do occasionally destroy paper records of classified materials and other documents, but strict procedures govern the process.

The Federal Records Act of 1950 sets out guidelines for the proper disposal of documents and creating backup or archival records, including electronic records.

The email sent by Carr did not contain some of the details traditionally found in a records disposal request, raising concerns about procedure, experts told the BBC.

“There is no indication in this email order that any thought is being given to proper retention or even identifying which records can be destroyed and which records cannot,” said Kel McClanahan, executive director of the National Security Counselors, a non-profit law firm in Washington.

Mr McClanahan filed a complaint with the National Archives and Records Administration, asking them to “take immediate measures” to stop the destruction of records.

The loss of personnel records could also cause serious complications for federal employees who need to verify or process their employment benefits.

USAID was one of the first targets of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), which was established by the Trump administration to root out what they view as waste and fraud in the federal bureaucracy. Billionaire Elon Musk is helping lead the agency.

Musk referred to the agency as “evil” and the White House has argued that the agency’s international programmes were a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars.

Over a few dramatic weeks, the agency was essentially shut down, with thousands of employees being laid off or placed on administrative leave. Many foreign service officers stationed abroad received little to no instructions for how to return home.

Many USAID staff remain on administrative leave, which allows them to receive pay but keeps their lives and careers in limbo.

The Trump administration named Secretary of State Marco Rubio the acting head of USAID in February and announced that Pete Marocco, who works at the State Department, would oversee its daily operations.

The Trump administration also ordered a temporary freeze on foreign aid that included funds distributed by USAID, which sent shockwaves through the international development community and forced some private companies and nonprofits to lay off staff.

On Monday, Rubio announced on X that the administration was cancelling “83% of the programmes at USAID.”

“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,” he wrote. The State Department would administer the roughly 1,000 remaining grants.