Judge declines to bar DOGE from US Institute of Peace after standoff

By Mike Scarcella, Tim Reid and Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A federal judge on Wednesday allowed for now the takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace by tech billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, after the institute accused Musk's team of occupying the building by force. 

The emergency ruling came after DOGE staffers gained access on Monday with the help of police officers to USIP, an independent, nonprofit organization funded by the U.S. Congress and whose Washington headquarters sits across the street from the U.S. State Department.

The move by Musk's team is the latest and potentially most aggressive example of DOGE taking over a building as part of the Trump administration's push to slash the size of government by reducing the 2.3 million-strong federal workforce and lowering costs.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell strongly criticized the way Musk's team behaved but said she was not going to order a temporary halt to DOGE's actions. USIP had asked the judge to stop DOGE "from completing the unlawful dismantling of the Institute."

USIP's lawsuit was "messy," she said, since it was filed on behalf of only five board members and not the entire USIP board, and the ousted president was not a plaintiff.

Still, Howell said she was disturbed by the way DOGE had entered USIP with armed police, which she described as "terrorizing."

"I have to say I am offended on behalf of the American citizens," she said, adding that USIP staff had been treated "abominably."

Howell said she would have another hearing on the lawsuit but did not say when.

After a standoff on Monday in which a handful of USIP staff initially locked all the doors to the building, DOGE employees, with the help of local police, expelled the institute's president, several staffers and an attorney from the building.

USIP's chief security officer said in an affidavit that he had called for police help after blocking DOGE staffers' access to the building. When the police arrived, however, they told him they were there to expel USIP staffers.

USIP in its lawsuit called DOGE's entry into the building "literal trespass and takeover by force."

DOGE personnel had "plundered the offices in an effort to access and gain control of the institute's infrastructure, including sensitive computer systems," the lawsuit said.

DOGE, USIP and its lawyers did not respond to requests for comment after the ruling.

The White House said in a statement that Howell's order "affirms the President’s clear authority to appoint and remove board members."

The USIP lawsuit said the takeover violated federal law because USIP is not a government entity. The institute was founded by Congress in 1984 with a mandate to protect U.S. interests by helping to prevent violent conflicts and broker peace deals abroad.  

According to a congressional budget forecast, USIP is expected to receive $55 million in funding from Congress this year. It also receives private donations.

On March 14, Trump fired most of USIP's board, a move the lawsuit claimed was unlawful because no reason was given for their removal. 

Three members of the board were left in place, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. They removed USIP's president and installed a Trump loyalist, part of the team that moved into the building on Monday.

Trump, in an executive order last month, incorrectly declared the organization to be a “government entity,” the lawsuit said. The president said the institute was “unnecessary” in his order.

(Reporting by Mike Scarcella, Tim Reid and Humeyra Pamuk; editing by Diane Craft, Stephen Coates, Ross Colvin and Rod Nickel)