Internal USAID emails reviewed by WIRED reveal that Jeremy Lewin, a DOGE operative and State Department official, exercised top powers at the agency and terminated thousands of employees while failing to complete standard onboarding paperwork. For at least two months, senior staff at the agency had no knowledge of how Lewin had suddenly begun wielding the powers of its top official after appearing as a policymaker from the General Services Administration.
Mysterious Appointment and Missing Paperwork
During a three-week period from March 18 to April 4, Lewin began canceling lifesaving aid programs and personally signed off on terminating thousands of USAID staff. Court filings and internal emails show that he did not sign the paperwork typically required by law to begin work at the agency, despite repeated requests. His appointment was so opaque that USAID security could not issue him an ID card because the agency had no employment records for him.
Lewin stated in a court declaration that he began serving at USAID as a senior adviser and strategy director on January 28, 2025. On March 18, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, acting as USAID’s administrator, delegated the authority of deputy administrator of policy and programming and chief operating officer to Lewin, while also appointing him an officer of the United States. Emails show that White House liaison to USAID Adam Korzeniewski notified human resources to begin onboarding Lewin two days later.
By March 26, Lewin still had not accepted the job offer or filed the federal government’s standard pre-employment background screening form, known as form OF-306, which is legally required to finalize an appointment. An HR executive noted on March 31 that Lewin had not completed tasks required for the security reciprocity process. A detailing agreement between GSA and USAID specified that the detail was contingent upon successful security clearances and pre-employment screening.
On March 28, Lewin signed a letter terminating all remaining USAID staff while executing sweeping powers to liquidate all 60 overseas missions and cancel thousands of global projects. USAID security officials repeatedly informed Korzeniewski that the secure database had no record of Lewin as an employee, preventing the issuance of an ID badge. A 15-year agency veteran, Natalia Machuca, stated that individuals cannot access computers or enter the building until officially onboarded.
Lewin told WIRED that he was a regular government employee with a valid security clearance from the State Department throughout the period, adding that HR confusion was cleared up once they were informed of his dual appointment. However, a top agency HR executive stated that no one saw any delegation documents until late April 2025, describing Lewin as an administrative ghost. Public policy professor Don Moynihan from the University of Michigan noted that this creates a major accountability problem when unconfirmed actors make consequential life-or-death decisions without completing formal employment procedures.
Legal Scrutiny and Obscure Provisions
Lewin provided WIRED with two documents dated March 18, 2025. One was an appointment and compensation waiver signed by Rubio naming Lewin director of strategy and planning without pay under 22 U.S.C. § 2385(b), and the other was a standard appointment affidavit signed by Rubio as human resources officer. A former senior USAID official noted that this specific statutory provision is traditionally reserved for rapidly deploying emergency-response staff to disaster zones abroad and represents an unconventional legal contortion.
Conversely, Wharton School of Business law professor Brian Feinstein acknowledged that while the method is complex, it appears to be legal. Legal experts also raised questions about Lewin’s actions before his official appointment by Rubio, including participation in orders that locked all USAID staff out of communication systems and terminated top officials. Georgetown University law professor David A. Super stated that federal law dictates a cabinet secretary can only assign Senate-confirmed powers to a subordinate employee working under supervision, preventing untrained individuals from wielding massive powers.
University of Michigan law professor Nina Mendelson added that the administration appeared to bypass the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which dictates how temporary vacancies in Senate-confirmed executive positions are filled. Lewin’s elevation occurred shortly after two dozen current and former USAID employees and contractors sued Elon Musk and DOGE in Maryland District Court, successfully securing a preliminary injunction on March 18 on the grounds that temporary outside hires lacked the authority to execute sweeping federal actions.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently granted the Justice Department an emergency stay to pause the injunction, based on the administration’s argument that Lewin acted as a federally appointed official. Lewin stated in his declaration that he never worked as an employee of Elon Musk or the USDS and reported directly and only to Rubio. While the ruling permitted Lewin to fire thousands of civil service and Foreign Service staff that day, district litigation continues.
Federal employment law attorney Kevin Byrnes, who represents more than 170 former and current career USAID staff in a separate lawsuit challenging DOGE’s role in the mass firings, stated that Lewin’s failure to complete mandatory onboarding paperwork raises serious questions about the authority of nonconfirmed leadership. Byrnes noted that this omission could potentially expose Lewin to personal liability as he asks the court to reinstate all plaintiffs to their jobs with back pay.
