The Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency’s acquisition of the U.S. Institute of Peace was invalidated by a federal district judge on Monday.
The judge ruled that the actions of “illegitimately-installed leaders” were “unlawful” and had to be declared “null and void.”
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell determined that “the removal of USIP’s president, his replacement by officials affiliated with DOGE, the termination of nearly all of USIP’s staff, and the transfer of USIP property to the General Services Administration” were “effectuated by illegitimately-installed leaders who lacked legal authority to take these actions, which must therefore be declared null and void.”
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The decision was made two months after a dramatic confrontation at the headquarters of the building in Washington, where the acting director of the Institute of Peace issued a statement claiming that “DOGE has broken into our building.” Following the occupation of the building by members of the DOGE team with the assistance of law enforcement. Subsequently, the majority of institute employees were terminated.
In her decision, Howell stated that the institute’s acting president, George Moose, would continue to serve as the organization’s president. She also prohibited the defendants from “further trespassing against the real and personal property belonging to the Institute and its employees, contractors, agents, and other representatives.”
Howell asserted that the Institute of Peace is “unique in its structure and function” due to its status as neither a “traditional Executive branch agency” nor a wholly private nonprofit corporation, as it was established under President Ronald Reagan.
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Howell continued, “It serves as an independent think tank that conducts its own international peace research, education and training, and information services, supporting both the executive and legislative branches.”
The judge argued that the Trump administration “rushed through action” to shut down the institute without consulting Congress and used “blunt force, backed up by law enforcement officers from three separate local and federal agencies” to enact Trump’s executive order.
A request for comment was not promptly addressed by a White House spokesperson.
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