The devices will be remotely wiped “to simplify processes and to reduce burden” of terminating thousands of federal workers before the agency is closed.
Staff members being fired from the federal agency responsible for distributing foreign aid will be able to keep their government-issued electronic devices when it closes its doors this summer, according to an internal email, copies of which were shared with The New York Times.
In the email, sent to employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Trump administration officials said that iPhones, iPads and laptops would “be remotely wiped and marked as disposed.” The directive, the email stated, was adopted “to simplify processes and to reduce burden” of terminating the thousands of direct hires and consultants who worked for the agency before it was slated to be closed this summer, its remaining functions to be folded into the State Department.
Federal employees are typically required to return their government-issued devices, in part to reduce the security risk of leaving potentially sensitive information with workers whose service has been terminated. The letter stipulates that devices will not be marked as “disposed” until they have been remotely wiped. It makes no request that the employees dispose of the devices.
There is also no clear deadline stipulated in the email, which says merely that devices will be remotely sanitized “on or around the employee Reduction in Force (RIF) date.” Staff based in the United States have been told that their employment will end by Aug. 15, which is also the date by which U.S.A.I.D.’s foreign service officers are expected to return to the United States.
The email also says that the administration will reach out to U.S.A.I.D. contractors who were fired weeks ago to let them know how to wipe their devices remotely.
With the planned closure of the agency, it was not clear what the government might have done with the returned devices. But their collective value is potentially significant.
Before President Trump returned to office in January and began cutting the work force, U.S.A.I.D. had over 10,000 employees. Though it was not immediately clear how many devices employees were issued, the value of the devices could reach into the millions of dollars.
Press officers for U.S.A.I.D. and the State Department did not immediately return requests for comment.