U.S. Institute of Peace leaders regain control of HQ after judge declares DOGE takeover “null and void”

The leaders of the United States Institute for Peace regained control of their offices Wednesday, weeks after they were ejected from their positions by the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency in March. 

The dramatic turn of events happened in the wake of U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell’s ruling on Monday that the takeover of USIP was “unlawful” and conducted by “illegitimately-installed leaders.” Howell further ruled that the action was “null and void.” The judge ruled after USIP’s leaders sued the government.

At an impromptu press briefing on the steps of the USIP building Wednesday, acting President George Moose addressed reporters. 

“We are now back in the building and we intend to resume our stewardship and custodianship,” Moose said. “It is not just the platform from which we’ve been doing our work. It is a symbol of the aspirations and the intent of the American people to be seen and to be peacemaker in the world.”

Howell’s ruling was the culmination of a two-month legal battle that began after USIP employees were forcibly removed from the organization’s building in downtown Washington with the help of Washington, D.C., Metropolitan police. 

The chain of events started on Feb. 19, when President Trump issued Executive Order 14217 declaring USIP “unnecessary” and terminating its leadership, most of its 300 staff members and its entire board. The organization was created by Congress as an “independent nonprofit corporation.”

That set the stage for the dramatic standoff between the USIP leadership and DOGE — the cost-cutting team run by billionaire Elon Musk — a month later. Representatives of DOGE gained access to the building with the help of a private security company, USIP spokesperson Liz Callihan said. During the standoff, Moose issued a statement saying “DOGE has broken into our building.”

On March 17, DOGE seized control of the institute’s headquarters and a newly installed president transferred ownership of the building to the Government Services Administration, which oversees contracting for the federal government and acts effectively as its landlord. The building was built specifically to house USIP and was paid for through a mix of public and privately donated money. 

USIP counsel George Foote also spoke at Wednesday’s press conference. “The Institute is the rightful possessor of this building, that George [Moose] is the rightful acting president… The effect of the judge’s order was to outlaw everything that happened beginning with the president’s dismissal of our board of directors…so it never happened” Foote said.

USIP was established 41 years ago by Congress. Its mission is to provide analysis, education, and resources to those working for peace around the world and to reduce the chance that the U.S. government will be pulled into foreign conflict. In recent years, USIP staff have increasingly been deployed to hot zones overseas where they have taken part in conflict resolution between warring parties, including in Iraq and Papua New Guinea.  

The Justice Department has not indicated whether it plans to appeal Judge Howell’s ruling. A White House spokeswoman said in response to Howell’s decision, “President Trump is right to reduce failed, useless entities like USIP to their statutory minimum, and this rogue judge’s attempt to impede on the separation of powers will not be the last say on this matter.”

Ahn’yae Hedgepeth contributed to this report.