Taxpayer-Funded Think Tank’s Legal Bid To Repel DOGE Goes Down In Flames

A federal judge on Wednesday declined to block the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from controlling the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), rejecting an emergency request from ousted board members seeking reinstatement.

The ruling dealt a blow to ousted USIP leadership, who argued their removal violated the USIP Act and the institute’s congressionally-funded status insulated them from executive intervention. While U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, an Obama-era appointee, declined to intervene, she said DOGE handled the takeover “abominably” given its cooperation with law enforcement — despite USIP staff, not DOGE staff, initially calling police to the scene Monday.

“I’m 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 during the hearing, Courthouse News Service first reported. No written or oral rulings have yet been publicly released.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by former board members — excluding former USIP President George Moose — claims the White House illegally removed the institute’s leadership and asserts DOGE officials unlawfully seized USIP’s facilities. The Justice Department argued the Feb. 19 executive order inciting the transition fell well within the president’s constitutional authority and that former USIP leadership had no standing to challenge their removals.