The Political Librarian published in its July 2026 issue a study titled "Where Is 60 Years of Data, Information and Knowledge One Year After USAID Was Fed "Into the Wood Chipper?" by Tanya Torres and Zachary Baquet.
When Elon Musk and the Trump administration fed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) into the woodchipper in early 2025, groups and individuals mobilized to rescue information resources created by staff and partners.
The USAID Knowledge Rescue effort, along with partner organizations and other volunteers, formed a decentralized network to preserve and provide public access to over sixty years' worth of the agency's data, information, and knowledge. This study provides a snapshot of the progress and challenges faced by those involved in rescuing USAID's information.
The shuttering of USAID, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and others by the Trump administration makes it clear that organizations are not permanent, and the knowledge they generate is fragile. When an organization ends, time moves quickly. The careful, delicate work of identifying and preserving decades-old institutional knowledge can get crowded out by the immediate pressures of winding down in weeks or months.
