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

A 28-year-old DOGE operative named Jeremy Lewin was granted sweeping powers over USAID by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in March 2025, during which he canceled aid programs and terminated thousands of employees, despite never completing required legal paperwork or security clearance processes. Internal USAID emails reveal that Lewin was never formally onboarded, lacked an ID card because HR had no employment records for him, and failed to sign mandatory federal pre-employment forms, raising questions about whether he had legal authority to exercise his duties. Legal experts and ongoing lawsuits are scrutinizing how DOGE affiliates like Lewin obtained top positions at federal agencies without following established procedures.