US Institute of Peace sues Trump administration after DOGE takeover
CNN
The US Institute of Peace has filed suit against the Trump administration after the Department of Government Efficiency’s takeover of the independent organization and gutting of its board.
(CNN) The US Institute of Peace has filed suit against the Trump administration after the Department of Government Efficiency’s takeover of the independent organization and gutting of its board. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in DC district court seeks “the immediate intervention of this Court to stop Defendants from completing the unlawful dismantling of the Institute and irreparably impairing Plaintiffs’ ability to perform their vital peace promotion and conflict resolution work as tasked by Congress.” The suit was filed after DOGE personnel, accompanied by DC police officers, gained access to the US Institute of Peace Monday after being turned away last week. That dramatic escalation followed the Trump administration’s Friday gutting of the organization’s board. The Trump administration has faced several losses in the courts. USIP, which works to resolve conflict, is not a federal agency. It was created by Congress as a nonpartisan, independent body in 1984, and USIP owns and manages its headquarters. A declaration filed as part of the lawsuit from the institute’s chief security officer alleges that the one USIP employee who “possesses the technological capability to access the Infrastructure and to grant others access” was traveling to Washington, DC, “at the behest of DOGE … in order to access the Infrastructure and grant access to DOGE as soon as the evening of March 18, 2025.” Another memorandum of support states that “USIP also has reason to believe that Defendants or those working in concert with them are currently in the USIP building, causing physical damage to the premises and physically accessing and disposing of USIP financial records.”
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