Judge says Trump lacked authority to dismantle U.S. Institute for Peace
A federal judge in Washington ruled Monday that the Trump administration exceeded its authority when it dismantled the U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent nonprofit created by Congress.
U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell said the institute, while part of the federal government, was separate from the executive branch; therefore, President Donald Trump lacked power to terminate its board at will.
Administration officials and members of billionaire Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service — aided by local and federal law enforcement agencies — seized the institute's privately owned headquarters in March and summarily removed its leaders.
'The President's efforts here to take over an organization outside of those bounds, contrary to statute established by Congress and by acts of force and threat using local and federal law enforcement officers, represented a gross usurpation of power and a way of conducting government affairs that unnecessarily traumatized the committed leadership and employees of USIP, who deserved better,' Howell wrote in her 102-page opinion.
The judge said the administration's subsequent actions — including terminating staff and programs, replacing the institute's president with a DOGE agent, and transferring its headquarters 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.'
The Trump administration must now decide whether to appeal her ruling.
Trump targeted the institute for elimination in an executive order along with several other nonexecutive branch foreign aid and peacemaking agencies.
Employees from DOGE, which stands for Department of Government Efficiency, took over the institute's headquarters with help from the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, the FBI and D.C. police.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
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