Judge declines to temporarily block DOGE takeover of US Institute of Peace
A federal judge on Wednesday declined to temporarily block the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), after the organization said its power was seized without lawful authority.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell expressed alarm about the manner in which DOGE accessed the building but said the now-fired board members likely don’t have authority to sue in their official capacity, calling some aspects of the lawsuit “a stretch.”
Howell declined to bar DOGE from accessing USIP’s facilities and systems, acting in USIP’s name or declare void the apparent removal of its board.
She also declined to forbid further trespass against the independent institute, after it said in court filings DOGE conducted a “literal trespass and takeover by force.”
“I am very offended by how DOGE has operated at the institute and treated American citizens trying to do a job that they were statutorily tasked to do at the institute,” Howell said. “But that concern about how this has gone down is not one that can sway me in my consideration of the factors for a [temporary restraining order], which is an emergency relief that is extraordinary.”
USIP stressed its status differs from other agencies infiltrated by DOGE, as it is an independent nonprofit corporation. The institute was established to help resolve and prevent violent conflicts.
It sued DOGE and other Trump administration officials Wednesday morning, claiming they sought to unlawfully dismantle the institute and block it from completing the peace promotion work tasked to it by Congress.
Institute lawyer Andrew Goldfarb and five board members who say they were unlawfully removed said DOGE moved at “lightning speed” and sought to reduce the organization “essentially to rubble.”
DOGE first showed up at USIP’s Washington headquarters on Friday with two FBI agents, Goldfarb said. When they failed to gain access, FBI agents appeared at the private residence of the institute’s chief of security on Sunday to attempt to get into the building.
That same day, the institute’s outside counsel was threatened with criminal investigation — before later being told he was the subject of federal investigation as to why the institute refused to let FBI agents enter the building.
On Monday, three sets of law enforcement — D.C. Metropolitan Police, Department of State police and the FBI — showed up to help DOGE get into the building.
“That's a lot of law enforcement at a charitable corporation building to enforce an executive order, wouldn't you say?” Howell asked.
Howell also expressed dismay that the private security firm contracted by USIP aligned itself with DOGE under the apparent threat of losing its other government security contracts. An official from the company, Inter-Con, showed up alongside DOGE officials Monday, using their key to access the building despite the revoked contract.
“DOGE went to this terminated private security contractor and said, ‘Even though we don't have a contract with you ... let us in or we’re going to cancel all your other government business,’” the judge said.
Goldfarb described the private firm as having “essentially turned on USIP.”
“Are you the least bit offended with how this was executed, Mr. Hudak?” Howell asked Justice Department lawyer Brian Hudak.
She also questioned the nature of DOGE’s entrance and other lawful ways the president’s order could have been better executed “without using the force of guns and threats against American citizens and those who served our country for years.”
Hudak implored the judge to view the matter as “two sides of the same coin.”
He said that Trump, using his executive power, had already removed USIP’s leadership and installed his own. The board’s president, then, had essentially barricaded himself in at USIP’s headquarters and refused to comply with his firing, he suggested.
“It really comes down to how you view that,” Hudak said.
In court filings, lawyers for USIP said the office was “plundered” by DOGE. They attached a photo showing the institute’s financial documents in a bin labeled “shred,” and a declaration from the group’s chief security officer indicated that DOGE employees were accompanied by FBI agents.
Hudak defended the placement of some financial records in the shred bin, saying they were part of the “typical destruction of copies of other records” and suggesting it was routine to shred financial documents.
The institute is one of several small agencies targeted by the Trump administration. The Inter-American Foundation and U.S. African Development Foundation, which were also mentioned in a Feb. 19 executive order to downsize the bureaucracy, have also sued.
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