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.

A top official with the U.S. Agency for International Development has asked the organization’s remaining employees to start shredding classified documents—and if the agency’s shredders become overburdened,