Judge Nixes DOGE Takeover Of U.S. Institute Of Peace Headquarters
A federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump's move to gut a 40-year-old nonprofit and take over its D.C. headquarters is illegal.
In a ruling Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell said the Trump administration’s actions through its Department of Government Efficiency were “effectuated by illegitimately-installed leaders who lacked legal authority to take these actions, which must therefore be declared null and void.”
Trump pinpointed the U.S. Institute of Peace as one of four congressionally created entities that he deemed “unnecessary” in a February executive order.
In the months since, DOGE replaced USIP’s leadership, removed board members, eliminated its staff of 400 “to the bare minimum” needed to perform statutory tasks and turned its owned headquarters building on the National Mall over to the General Services Administration, according to the court's ruling.
The ruling describes the “tense sequence of events that unfolded” at USIP’s headquarters on March 17 when DOGE officials, backed up by local and federal law enforcement, took control of the building “through brute force and threats.”
“USIP now has only four or five employees and is conducting no programmatic activities,” the ruling said, and it has even halted some mandatory programs.
The 254K SF headquarters building at 2301 Constitution Ave. NW was completed in 2011. The $153M construction was funded through a mix of public and private funding, according to the Urban Land Institute. Canadian-Israeli architect Moshe designed “dove-like” wings atop the building to evoke the idea of peace.
A DOGE staffer estimated in a March court filing that the building has a fair market value of $500M. The property's most recent tax assessment valued it at $244M, according to D.C. records.
USIP was created by Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1984.
The nonprofit released a statement to multiple news outlets following Monday's ruling saying the ruling allows the organization to continue its work.
“The USIP board, management and staff look forward to restarting USIP's programs to promote and facilitate peaceful conflict resolution around the world,” the statement said.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly criticized the ruling in a statement to news outlets.
“The United States Institute of Peace has existed for 40 years on a $50 million annual budget, but failed to deliver peace,” Kelly's statement said. “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 the matter.”
The Trump administration and DOGE have slashed headquarters space for other international development-focused agencies that they have more direct authority over.
The U.S. Agency for Global Media in March backed out of a full-building lease it signed in September at 1875 Pennsylvania Ave. NW as part of a push to “drastically downsize the agency.” Trump in February forced the closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s headquarters at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center as part of his effort to dismantle the agency.
