A 28-Year-Old DOGE Operative Gutted USAID. HR Had No Record of Him Working There

For at least two months, USAID senior staff had no knowledge of how Lewin, who appeared at the agency one day as a policymaker on an obscure detail from the General Services Administration, could have suddenly begun wielding the powers of the agency’s top official.

Internal USAID emails reviewed by WIRED reveal that during the three-week period of March 18 to April 4, during which Lewin began canceling lifesaving aid programs and personally signed off on the termination of thousands of USAID employees, he did not sign the paperwork typically required by law to begin work at the agency, despite repeated requests. In fact, his appointment was so mysterious that USAID security was unable to issue him an ID card because they had no records of his employment.

Lewin, currently director of policy planning at the State Department, tells WIRED that prior to Rubio delegating powers to him, he was “both detailed and dual appointed to work at USAID by Secretary Rubio according to well-established authorities and with the advice of State Department and White House counsel.”

Experts, though, say that while Lewin performed the duties of a top USAID leader under the title Rubio handed to him—deputy administrator of policy and programming and chief operating officer—it isn’t clear that he had the legal authority to do so. Questions about how DOGE affiliates like Lewin stepped into top roles at many federal agencies, including USAID, remain key to dozens of active lawsuits targeting DOGE and the Trump administration over federal workforce reductions, firings, and agency dismantlings.