A federal judge on Monday ruled that DOGE’s takeover of the US Institute of Peace (USIP) was illegal.
US District Judge Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee, reinstalled ousted Acting USIP President George Moose and banned DOGE workers from entering the facility.
NBC News reported:
A federal district judge on Monday tossed out the takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace by the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency, declaring that actions by “illegitimately-installed leaders” were “unlawful” and had to be declared “null and void.”
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that “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 “effectuated by illegitimately-installed leaders who lacked legal authority to take these actions, which must therefore be declared null and void.”
Howell wrote in her decision that USIP Acting President George Moose would continue to serve as president of the organization and banned defendants from “further trespass against the real and personal property belonging to the Institute and its employees, contractors, agents, and other representatives.”
As previously reported:
In March, the fired president, George Moose, refused to leave the Institute of Peace’s building in Washington DC, prompting a standoff with law enforcement.
The Institute of Peace was created in 1984 under the Reagan Administration. George Moose is an old Clintonite who refused to leave after Trump signed an executive order reducing the USIP to its “statutory minimum.”
DOGE attempted to evict George Moose and other officials of the USIP in March but Musk’s workers were forced to call law enforcement amid a standoff.
Police intervened after Acting USIP President Kenneth Jackson was denied entry.
Mr. Moose denied lawful access to Kenneth Jackson, the Acting USIP President (as approved by the USIP Board). @DCPoliceDept arrived onsite and escorted Mr. Jackson into the building. The only unlawful individual was Mr. Moose, who refused to comply, and even tried to fire USIP’s… https://t.co/Fy8hJClx9E pic.twitter.com/yqq81qNKXM
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) March 18, 2025
“MPD members went to the USIP building and contacted an individual who allowed MPD members inside of the building,” the Metro police said. “Once inside of the building, the acting USIP President requested that all the unauthorized individuals inside of the building leave.”
George Moose was escorted out of the building by MPD without incident. No arrests were made.
The US Institute of Peace sued to block DOGE’s takeover.
Judge Beryl Howell previously denied an emergency TRO but she blasted DOGE for their treatment of USIP president George Moose – who literally barricaded himself in the building after he was fired.
“Are you the least bit offended by how this was executed, Mr. Hudak? I have to say, I’m offended on behalf of the American citizens who have done so much, as I just said, with Mr. Moose himself, so much service to this country to be treated so abominably, let alone the directors on the board,” Judge Howell said to Assistant US Attorney Brian Hudak.
The DOJ official responded to Howell with common sense: “If I’m fired and I decide to barricade myself into the US attorney’s office…I’m assuming some of my colleagues would say, ‘Brian, what are you doing? Here’s your termination letter, you need to leave.’ I’m assuming it would escalate from there…I’m assuming the police would be called.”
Howell wasn’t offended by the petulant USIP official refusing to leave after he was fired from his job. She was offended that DOGE used law enforcement and other forceful yet lawful incentives to remove George Moose.
George Moose previously called it an “illegal takeover.”
WATCH:
DOGE evicted the president and several officials of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) on Monday, even though it was an independent organization and not a government agency.
Read more: https://t.co/T2ttl26pp5 pic.twitter.com/WgDQtUudqD
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) March 18, 2025
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