Tag Archive for: u s institute of peace

Federal Appeals Court Ruling Sides With Trump’s Plans To Dismantle Institute Of Peace

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A federal appeals court Friday lifted a lower court’s order that blocked President Donald Trump from moving forward with efforts to dismantle the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that Trump is likely to suffer “irreparable” harm if barred from fully exercising his executive authority over the Institute’s board. The court concluded that the Institute holds “substantial executive power,” meaning its board members are not protected from at-will removal by the president.

“As a general rule, the President may remove executive officers at will,” the three-judge panel wrote. They added that only agencies with quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial authority, and lacking substantial executive power, may qualify for special protections — standards the court said USIP does not meet.

Created by Congress, the USIP is a nonpartisan organization aimed at advancing U.S. interests through conflict prevention and peacebuilding worldwide.

Trump announced in March his intent to dissolve the agency and dismissed five board members following a visit from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), who sought access to USIP’s computers and internal data. Upon auditing USIP, the DOGE team uncovered several findings. Despite USIP’s mission to promote peace, the agency was described as “the least peaceful” by the team, who discovered weapons in its armory and contracts totaling $130,000 awarded to a former Taliban member for unclear services. The team also found that USIP received approximately $55 million annually from Congress but did not return unspent funds. Instead, leftover money was swept into a private bank account outside of congressional oversight, which was then used for expenditures such as private jets and events at headquarters.

During an interview on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime,” Musk and DOGE team members said that USIP was the agency that resisted their oversight efforts the most aggressively.

The terminated board members challenged their removal, saying it violated constitutional limits and required congressional oversight. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell initially ruled in their favor, calling the takeover attempt a use of “brute force.”

After that decision, USIP temporarily regained control of its headquarters and began reviewing internal systems. The appeals court’s ruling now permits the Trump administration to resume efforts to restructure or eliminate the agency.

AUTHOR

Melanie Wilcox

Contributor. Follow Melanie on Twitter.

RELATED ARTICLE: DOGE Deposes US Institute Of Peace Leadership After Failing To Institute Peace

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EXCLUSIVE: DOJ Explores Criminal Charges Against Ousted USIP Mutineers

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The Department of Justice is exploring potential criminal charges against former U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) officials who attempted to block the Trump administration’s leadership changes at the federally funded think tank Monday, a senior DOJ official told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The official, who requested anonymity, told the DCNF the DOJ is examining whether certain USIP actions — such as the removal and destruction of internal and external door locks — created illegal fire hazards. The official also flagged the widespread distribution of internal flyers instructing USIP staff not to cooperate with incoming Trump administration officials as potentially obstructive conduct. The DCNF was the first to report on USIP’s internal flyer campaign and destruction of door locks.

“Eleven board members were lawfully removed, and remaining board members appointed Kenneth Jackson acting president,” Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary, previously told the DCNF. “Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage. The Trump administration will enforce the President’s executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people.”

The inquiry — which remains in its early stages, the official emphasized — follows a contentious standoff Monday after former USIP leadership tried to block the installation of Kenneth Jackson, who President Donald Trump appointed as the institute’s new president on March 14. The Trump administration determined the institute had failed to comply with a Feb. 19 executive order requiring federally funded organizations like USIP to scale operations down to their bare statutory minimums, triggering a leadership shakeup the institute attempted to resist.

USIP leadership began preparing for a confrontation weeks before the executive order was issued. A Feb. 6 internal document exclusively obtained by the DCNF outlined plans to deny building access to outside officials and reasserted the institute’s discretion over security systems and facilities. Flyers with the names and photos of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) officials were posted throughout the building, instructing staff to report their presence and avoid conversation.

After Jackson and other DOGE officials arrived on March 14 with law enforcement and a copy of Trump’s order, they were turned away by USIP’s legal counsel, sources previously told the DCNF. Over the following weekend, USIP leadership escalated its resistance — terminating its private security firm, disabling internet and phone systems and resorting to walkie-talkie communication inside the building.

DOGE officials returned Monday to find the building locked down and staff barricaded on the fifth floor. USIP officials called the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), sources previously told the DCNF, who only later arrived at the request of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. after reports of obstruction by institute staff. MPD entered the fifth floor through emergency stairwells and removed former USIP President George Moose and other senior officials from the premises.

While a federal judge declined to issue a restraining order halting the leadership transition Wednesday, she sharply criticized DOGE’s cooperation with law enforcement, despite the circumstances surrounding USIP’s refusal to comply.

The DOJ official did not specify which individuals were under investigation or when a decision on charges might be made.

AUTHOR

Thomas English

Contributor.

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EXCLUSIVE: Inside A Taxpayer-Funded Think Tank’s Aborted Rebellion Against DOGE

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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