A federal judge on Wednesday refused to block the Government’s Department of Efficiency (DOGE) from controlling the US Institute of Peace (USIP) and rejected an urgent request from exiled board members seeking recovery.

The ruling took a blow for expelling USIP leadership, who alleged that their removal violated USIP laws and that the Institute’s Congress-funded status isolated them from enforcement interventions. Although Obama-era appointee US District Judge Judge Beryl Howell refused to intervene, she said Doge handled the acquisition “badly” in view of her cooperation with law enforcement, despite USIP staff, not Doge’s staff, calling police on Monday. (Related: Exclusive: amidst the rebellion against Doge, aborted taxpayer-funded think tank)

“I am very upset about how Doge works in the lab and treating American citizens who are trying to do the work that American citizens are tasked with doing legally at the lab,” Howell first said at the hearing. It has been reported. No written or oral judgment has been made public yet.

Mr. Moose denied legal access to Kenneth Jackson, acting president of USIP (approved by the USIP committee). @dcpolicedept We arrived on the property and escorted Mr. Jackson into the building. The only illegal individual was Mr. Moose. https://t.co/fy8hjclx9e pic.twitter.com/yqq81qnkxm

– Government Efficiency Bureau (@doge) March 18, 2025

Litigationwas filed Tuesday by former board members except former USIP president George Moose – the White House claims that the institute leadership illegally removed and Doge officials illegally seized USIP facilities. Ministry of Justice Discussed February 19th Presidential Order Instigating the transition fell sharply within the president’s constitutional authority, with previous USIP leadership not having a position to challenge their removal.

Howell pushed why Doge worked with law enforcement officials rather than using a more confrontational transition process despite the situation in which USIP refuses to follow. A prior report by the Daily Caller News Foundation revealed that USIP leadership had disrupted the leadership transition, physically removed door locks, and actively thwarted its own headquarters to shut down the internet and telephone systems.

“So, this act of using law enforcement, threatening criminal investigations, using armed law enforcement agencies from three different agencies… to carry out executive orders…… if there are so many other legal ways to achieve the goal, then there are probably all the acts targeting lab employees. [of the executive order] … why? “Howell said, According to To ABC News. “Why are you here – just because Doge is in a hurry?”

USIP officials also barricaded on the fifth floor, lowered window tints to block visibility, treating staff via flyers Doge officials as trespassers, escalating the situation to the point where law enforcement intervention was inevitable.

(Left) A photo of a flyer widely distributed throughout the American Peace Headquarters Association prior to the arrival of the Trump administration. (Right) Photo taken in Washington, DC on March 18, 2025, depicting the same flyer supported by the window of a security guard booth outside USIP’s headquarters (Thomas English/Daily Caller News Foundation)

Despite her sympathy for the plaintiff, she ultimately ruled that they had failed to demonstrate irreparable harm, high legal bars, and refused to file a temporary restraining order.

The case now moves into a broader legal battle over the restructuring of federal-funded entities, with the USIP case standing as an early test of the White House’s authority to restructure federal agencies that receive virtually all funds from the government but claim operational independence.

Founded by Congress in 1984, USIP argues that despite the US’s involvement in many military interventions, long-term wars and growing global instability over decades, it is “to prevent violent conflicts and prevent broker peace deals overseas.” More recently, the Institute has called for $55,459,000 in its 2025 budget, calling for “promoting world peace and security.” According to on that website.

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