Latest news with #USIP
Epoch Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Judge Upholds Block on Trump Admin's Shutdown of US Institute of Peace
A federal judge has rejected the Trump administration's bid to pause her earlier ruling that restored control of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) to its acting president and board, blocking further attempts by the administration to dismantle the organization and install new leadership. In a seven-page 'While USIP may be considered part of the federal government,' Howell wrote, 'USIP does not exercise executive power and thus is not part of the Executive branch, so the President does not have absolute constitutional removal authority over USIP Board members but must comply with the statute in exercising his removal power.' The judge was responding to the Trump administration's In its May 21 Government attorneys also argued that even if USIP occupies a unique status, its directors are still presidential appointees who can be removed at will under the president's Article II powers. Related Stories 5/19/2025 3/19/2025 In court Howell rejected that position, saying that USIP does not wield executive power and therefore falls outside the reach of the president's unrestricted removal authority. In her May 19 ruling—which she upheld on Friday—Howell wrote that Congress had explicitly structured the institute to operate independently, with protections against unilateral executive interference. Howell described the administration's conduct as a 'gross usurpation of power' carried out 'by acts of force and threat using local and federal law enforcement officers,' and said the attempt to dismantle the institute had 'unnecessarily traumatized the committed leadership and employees of USIP, who deserved better.' Howell also found that the government had failed to show it would suffer harm without a stay. By contrast, she wrote, continued disruption to USIP would make it 'that much harder' for its restored leadership to undertake 'the job of putting [USIP] back together by rehiring employees and stemming the dissipation of USIP's goodwill and reputation for independence.' USIP's acting president reentered the institute's headquarters on May 21, accompanied by the organization's outside counsel, George Foote. The administration had requested an emergency two-business-day stay to allow time for appeal, and Howell denied that request as well. The legal fight began after Trump issued an On March 14, White House officials fired the Senate-confirmed board members via email. That same day, Moose was removed by the remaining ex officio members, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and replaced with Kenneth Jackson, an official from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Two days later, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) personnel, along with Jackson, In a March 17 post on social media platform X, DOGE stated that Moose allegedly 'denied lawful access [by] Kenneth Jackson, the Acting USIP President (as approved by the USIP Board),' to the building. Officers with the DC Metropolitan Police Department later 'arrived onsite and escorted Mr. Jackson into the building,' according to DOGE. The building was later transferred to the General Services Administration and leased to the Department of Labor. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the court's May 23 ruling. Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tiny Agency That Stood Up to DOGE Gets Its Building Back
A small federal agency forced out of its headquarters by the Trump administration has regained control of its building after a federal judge declared the DOGE takeover 'null and void.' U.S. Institute of Peace acting president George Moose reentered his Washington office on Wednesday for the first time since March, when he and many other agency leaders were booted out by DOGE staffers who declared them 'unnecessary.' 'We are now back in the building and we intend to resume our stewardship and custodianship,' Moose told reporters in an impromptu briefing outside the USIP building. '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 peacemakers in the world.' Moose reportedly reentered USIP headquarters with private security and the agency's attorney. 'We just did a quick walk-through. Externally, visibly, things look to be in pretty good shape,' he said. 'I didn't see anything, any destruction, if you will, no damage that I can see that is visible.' USIP regained access to its building days after federal judge Beryl Howell ordered the reversal of DOGE's sweeping cuts. The saga started when Elon Musk's DOGE lackeys arrived unannounced at the USIP office in March, but were turned away by the institution's attorney who stood firm on its independence as a non-executive branch agency. After a days-long standoff, Capitol police kicked staff out. Soon after, USIP staff began receiving termination notices as DOGE took a chainsaw to the federal government in a bid to cut spending. Nate Cavanaugh, a 28-year-old DOGE staffer, was installed as the institution's new head. Agency leaders hit back by suing the Trump administration. Howell wrote in her ruling favoring USIP that the removal of the agency's leaders and their replacement by DOGE affiliates was 'effectuated by illegitimately-installed leaders who lacked legal authority to take these actions, which must therefore be declared null and void.' But the saga isn't over yet. The Trump administration appealed Howell's order on Wednesday, arguing that the USIP is part of the executive branch because it is 'tasked with executive powers' and 'perform[s] executive functions.' Congress established USIP as a nonpartisan, independent agency in 1984 to protect 'U.S. interests by helping to prevent violent conflicts and broker peace deals abroad,' according to its website. 'As such… the Institute's Board is removable at the President's will,' newly-named D.C. prosecutor Jeanine Pirro wrote in the administration's appeal. 'The Court's conclusion that the Institute, a creation of statute, is also not part of any branch of the federal government is an unprecedented holding and one that appears to contradict the analytical underpinnings of several binding and persuasive precedents.'
CBS News
21-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
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.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal judge blocks Trump dismantling of US Institute of Peace
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's dismantling of the U.S. Institute of Peace, writing in a ruling that the removal of its board members and the takeover of its headquarters by members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are actions that are "null and void." The response this week from U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell comes after the Institute filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in March calling for "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 Administration removed the Institute's leadership, including plaintiff Board members and its president in contravention of statutory limitations, and had personnel from a newly created federal office, called the Department of Government Efficiency, forcibly take over the Institute's headquarters on March 17," Howell wrote in her ruling. "With a newly installed USIP president, the Administration then handed off USIP's property for no consideration and abruptly terminated nearly all of its staff and activities around the world." "Congress's restrictions on the President's removal power of USIP Board members are squarely constitutional, and the President and his Administration's acts to the contrary are unlawful and ultra vires. The actions that have occurred since then – at the direction of the President to reduce USIP to its 'statutory minimums' – including 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 thus effectuated by illegitimately-installed leaders who lacked legal authority to take these actions, which must therefore be declared null and void," she added. Trump Administration Guts Institute Of Peace Of 'Rogue Bureaucrats' After Doge Standoff In Government Office The Institute of Peace is an independent, national institution funded by Congress that was established in 1984 under the Reagan administration to promote peace and diplomacy on the international stage. Read On The Fox News App "Congress has endorsed USIP's important work by continuing to fund the Institute through appropriations bills signed by seven different Presidents from both major political parties, including the current President during his first term in office," Howell said in the ruling. "In a drastic and abrupt change of course, within the first month of his second term, President Trump unilaterally decided that USIP is 'unnecessary,' issuing Executive Order 14217 to this effect, and then his Administration rushed through actions, including removal of Board members, to reach the professed goal of reducing all of USIP's operations and personnel to the bare minimum to perform only mandated statutory tasks, while ignoring the broader statutory goals set out for this organization to fulfill," she also said. Ultimately, Howell concluded, the Trump administration's actions "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." Judge Denies Embattled Government-funded Agency's Restraining Order Request Against Doge White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that "The United States Institute of Peace has existed for 40 years on a $50 million annual budget, but failed to deliver peace. "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," she added in a statement. In March, the White House said the Trump administration gutted the Institute of Peace of "rogue bureaucrats" who held a tense standoff with a DOGE team that required police intervention. "Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage," Kelly said at the time. "The Trump administration will enforce the president's executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people." The administration now has 30 days to file an appeal to the ruling. Fox News Digital's Emma Colton contributed to this report. Original article source: Federal judge blocks Trump dismantling of US Institute of Peace
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Judge bars Trump administration from closing US peace institute, says its takeover by DOGE 'illegal'
USIP A US federal judge on Monday barred the Donald Trump administration from moving forward with its "dismantling" of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Also Read | DOGE's $500M USIP headquarters takeover sparks legal showdown District court judge Beryl Howell also ruled the think tank was taken over "illegally" by the federal government's Elon Musk-led DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) through "blunt force," backed up by law enforcement officers from three separate local and federal agencies. USIP, created and funded by the United States Congress to focus on resolving violent conflicts around the globe, was taken over by DOGE in March. Also Read | 'DOGE broke into our building': Trump administration ousts US Institute of Peace's leadership "The institute ultimately exercises no Executive branch power under the Constitution but operates, through research, educational teaching, and scholarship, in the sensitive area of global peace. In creating it, the Congress struck a careful balance between political accountability, on the one hand, and partisan independence and stability, on the other," judge Howell said, according to news agency AP. "As such, the Constitution makes clear that the president's constitutional authority only extends as far as Article II, but even Article II does not grant him (President Trump) absolute removal authority over his subordinates, under current binding caselaw precedent," she added. Further, Howell cited the "uniqueness" of the organization, saying the president "second-guessed" the judgment of the Congress and then-President Ronald Reagan in creating the institute 40 years ago, and the judgment of every Congress since. She declared that because the removal of the board by the administration is "illegal," all subsequent actions are "null and void." The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed by USIP's acting president and CEO, George Moose, and former board members, had maintained the institute was established by law as an "independent, nonprofit organization." The plaintiffs also argued the firing of the board members did not meet any of the steps required by the law which created the organization. Earlier, their two requests for restraining orders were turned down- one each to halt the sacking of the board and to stop the administration from taking over the institute's headquarters. White House slams 'rogue' judge Howell In an email, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said, "the United States Institute of Peace has existed for 40 years on a $50 million annual budget, but failed to deliver peace. 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 federal government has 30 days to file a notice of appeal.
