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Efforts by the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to decimate the federal government and evade oversight continued this week, with reported orders to destroy records at the U.S. Agency for International Development and layoffs of more than 1,300 Education Department employees — part of Trump’s plan to dismantle the agency.
Following reports that USAID staff had been directed to shred and burn classified and personnel documents this week, we sued USAID, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the National Archives (NARA). Our suit claims that the agencies and Rubio, in his capacity as acting USAID administrator and acting archivist, failed to preserve agency records and deleted key documents from USAID’s website, in violation of the Federal Records Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Freedom of Information Act.
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As part of our lawsuit, we also filed a motion for an emergency restraining order against Rubio to halt further destruction of critical documents and ensure preservation of all records.
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“While the Trump Administration may wish that it could simply, with the blink of an eye and an implementation of an executive order, erase an independent agency established by Congress and its attendant obligations as a federal agency, it may not,” our lawsuit states.
The destruction of USAID records risks erasing key information about DOGE’s hostile takeover of the agency.
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Last month, we launched an investigation of the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID, filing multiple FOIA requests for communications between agency officials and the White House, Congress, or Rubio.
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After USAID’s website went offline and staff reportedly lost email access last month, we also sent letters to USAID, NARA, and the State Department warning about potential violations of the Federal Records Act, which requires government officials to ask and gain approval from NARA before destroying records.
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NARA has been a primary target of President Trump’s retribution tour, and we’re investigating his efforts to politicize and undermine the independence of the nonpartisan agency, which endanger not just the preservation of records that belong to the people of the United States, but also our history and our democracy. Read more here.
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“The reported destruction of classified and personnel records at USAID is a clear attempt to erase history and obstruct accountability. Transparency and the rule of law are not optional,” our interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said. “USAID’s work has saved lives for decades, and no one in this administration has the right to cover its tracks by shredding records or impeding oversight.”
Massive Cuts at the Department of Education
The Department of Education on Tuesday announced and initiated layoffs of more than 1,300 employees, a move that Education Secretary Linda McMahon confirmed is a first step toward achieving Trump’s goal of abolishing the agency.
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The layoffs sparked backlash from attorneys general in Washington, D.C., and 20 states, who sued Trump, McMahon, and the Education Department on Thursday.
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The suit claims that Trump’s plan to dismantle the Education Department illegally bypasses Congress, which created the agency and has sole authority to abolish it. As the suit outlines, gutting the Education Department threatens funding that schools need to teach, administer financial aid, uphold civil rights laws, and conduct other necessary functions.
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The layoffs included all of the roughly 240 employees who worked in the Education Department's civil rights division. The Trump administration has not said how it plans to handle the division’s still-open cases, which include allegations of race- and religion-based violence, sexual violence at schools, and efforts to provide services to disabled students, among other civil rights issues.
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The layoffs also raise concerns about the lack of oversight of those cases and personal student data collected by the office.
The cuts are yet another signal of the Trump administration’s plans for weakening public education in the U.S. — plans also laid out in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.
Sunshine Week 2025
Next week is the 20th anniversary of Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of open government and public access to information. American Oversight is hosting several free informative sessions focused on FOIA and transparency:
On the Records
Seeking Trump Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks’ Communications
President Trump installed Mike Banks — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s adviser on border-related issues since 2023 — as chief of the U.S. Border Patrol in January, replacing the career official who previously held the role.
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In Banks’ two years working with Abbott, American Oversight has tracked his activity as one of the leaders of Texas’ immigration enforcement efforts.
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We have filed public records requests seeking a wide range of Banks’ communications, and have received responses that have consistently revealed little about his time at the Texas Governor’s Office.
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In response to requests for Banks’ seemingly routine communications with officials at state agencies, Abbott’s office said it had “no information,” even though Banks had released joint statements and made public appearances with those officials during the specified time period.
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Abbott’s office similarly had “no information” responsive to a request for communications between Banks and the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection over a three-week period in 2024, despite Banks having stated that he communicated with CBP daily.
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The lack of information about whom Banks was communicating with during his time Abbott’s “border czar” raises significant questions about how Banks will operate in his new role — including his commitment to openness and transparency. Read more here.
Other Stories We’re Following
Trump Administration Accountability
- 'Highly unusual': White House halts FBI background checks for senior staff, shifts them to Pentagon (ABC News)
- Trump turns the White House lawn into a Tesla showroom (NBC News)
- Trump says violence against Tesla is domestic terrorism (Reuters)
- Justice Dept. official says she was fired after opposing restoring Mel Gibson’s gun rights (New York Times)
Trump and DOGE Purges and Takeovers
- “The president wanted it and I did it”: Recording reveals head of Social Security’s thoughts on DOGE and Trump (ProPublica)
- Head of Postal Service agrees to let DOGE work with USPS (CNN)
- Inside Elon Musk’s ‘digital coup’ (Wired)
- OPM inspector general investigating DOGE emails, access to agency data (The Hill)
- DOGE lease cancellations: Which government offices could be closed this year and when (Associated Press)
- Judge lets Trump take over US African Development Foundation (Politico)
Election Denial and Voting Rights
- Trump is still trying to undermine elections (New Yorker)
- Michigan is short of clerks to oversee elections, but harassment and workload turn people away (Votebeat)
- The unchecked authority of Greg Abbott (New Yorker)
- Fears mount over Kash Patel’s use of FBI to persecute leftwing protest groups (Guardian)
- Flabbergasted Wisconsin elections officials to depose Madison workers over uncounted ballots (Associated Press)
- An effort to block non-citizens from voting could impact married women, too (19th News)
- DOJ drops fight against Texas political maps as Trump administration retreats from voting rights cases (Texas Tribune)
In the States
- How Eric Adams has backed a secretive NYPD unit ridden with abuses (ProPublica)
- Georgia congressman’s bill leads to dismantling of D.C. Black Lives Matter mural (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- Griffin says colleague who contributed to his legal fund should not be barred from hearing his case (NC Newsline)
National News
- US added to human rights watchlist over Trump moves (The Hill)
- EPA’s Zeldin terminates $20B in Biden climate grants (Politico)
- EPA head says he’ll roll back dozens of environmental regulations, including rules on climate change (Associated Press)
- EPA plans to close all environmental justice offices (New York Times)
- USDA cancels $1B in local food purchasing for schools, food banks (Politico)
LGBTQ+ Rights
- Trans women transferred to men’s prisons despite rulings against Trump’s order (Guardian)
- ‘I don’t feel safe’: Trump’s passport gender policy sparks fear for trans travelers (Washington Post)
- ‘This is about more than sports’: The real stakes for trans athletes (Maine Morning Star)
Abortion and Reproductive Rights
- Abortion pill prescriptions are now being tracked in parts of the US — with help from a little-known tech company (Business Insider)
- Missouri AG renews demand Planned Parenthood stop abortion procedure it isn’t offering (Missouri Independent)
- GOP lawmakers push to charge women with homicide for seeking abortions (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
- Doctors argue patient privacy, harassment in fight for abortion record injunction (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
- Louisiana mother pleads not guilty following abortion pill indictment (Louisiana Illuminator)
- Will lawmakers let Texas’ maternal mortality committee review abortion deaths? (Texas Tribune)
Threats to Education
Civil Rights
- Immigration authorities arrest pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia (New York Times)
- How Mahmoud Khalil became the face of Trump’s crackdown on campus protests (Associated Press)
- Inside Trump’s crackdown on dissent: Obscure laws, ICE agents and fear (New York Times)
Government Transparency and Public Records Law
- Federal judge says Musk’s DOGE must make records public — questions ‘unusual secrecy’ (Forbes)
- Why is Mayor Karen Bass deleting her text messages? (Los Angeles Times)
Immigration
- Trump administration asks Supreme Court to partly allow birthright citizenship restrictions (Associated Press)
- U.S. revamps immigration app to add ‘self-deportation’ function (Washington Post)
- Trump administration prepares to revive and expand travel bans (New York Times)
- US said to drop sex abuse lawsuit against migrant child shelter (Bloomberg)
- U.S. citizen child recovering from brain cancer removed to Mexico with undocumented parents (NBC News)
- Trump to invoke wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to carry out deportations to Guantanamo (CBS News)
- ICE accessed car trackers in sanctuary cities that could help in raids, files show (Guardian)
- FEMA wants the names and addresses of migrants helped by Texas nonprofits and local governments that got federal grant money (Texas Tribune)
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