Federal judge blocks Trump dismantling of US Institute of Peace

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Institute of Peace, writing in a ruling that the removal of its board members and the takeover of its headquarters by members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are actions that are "null and void." 

The response this week from U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell comes after the Institute filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in March calling for "the immediate intervention of this Court to stop Defendants from completing the unlawful dismantling of the Institute and irreparably impairing Plaintiffs’ ability to perform their vital peace promotion and conflict resolution work as tasked by Congress." 

"The Administration removed the Institute’s leadership, including plaintiff Board members and its president in contravention of statutory limitations, and had personnel from a newly created federal office, called the Department of Government Efficiency, forcibly take over the Institute’s headquarters on March 17," Howell wrote in her ruling. "With a newly installed USIP president, the Administration then handed off USIP’s property for no consideration and abruptly terminated nearly all of its staff and activities around the world."

"Congress’s restrictions on the President’s removal power of USIP Board members are squarely constitutional, and the President and his Administration’s acts to the contrary are unlawful and ultra vires. The actions that have occurred since then – at the direction of the President to reduce USIP to its ‘statutory minimums’ – including 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 thus effectuated by illegitimately-installed leaders who lacked legal authority to take these actions, which must therefore be declared null and void," she added. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION GUTS INSTITUTE OF PEACE OF ‘ROGUE BUREAUCRATS’ AFTER DOGE STANDOFF IN GOVERNMENT OFFICE 

The Institute of Peace is an independent, national institution funded by Congress that was established in 1984 under the Reagan administration to promote peace and diplomacy on the international stage.  

"Congress has endorsed USIP’s important work by continuing to fund the Institute through appropriations bills signed by seven different Presidents from both major political parties, including the current President during his first term in office," Howell said in the ruling.  

"In a drastic and abrupt change of course, within the first month of his second term, President Trump unilaterally decided that USIP is ‘unnecessary,’ issuing Executive Order 14217 to this effect, and then his Administration rushed through actions, including removal of Board members, to reach the professed goal of reducing all of USIP’s operations and personnel to the bare minimum to perform only mandated statutory tasks, while ignoring the broader statutory goals set out for this organization to fulfill," she also said. 

Ultimately, Howell concluded, the Trump administration’s actions "represented a gross usurpation of power and a way of conducting government affairs that unnecessarily traumatized the committed leadership and employees of USIP, who deserved better."

JUDGE DENIES EMBATTLED GOVERNMENT-FUNDED AGENCY’S RESTRAINING ORDER REQUEST AGAINST DOGE 

The White House did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

In March, it said the Trump administration gutted the Institute of Peace of "rogue bureaucrats" who held a tense standoff with a DOGE team that required police intervention. 

"Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage," White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said at the time. "The Trump administration will enforce the president’s executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people." 

The administration now has 30 days to file an appeal to the ruling.

"The United States Institute of Peace has existed for 40 years on a $50 million annual budget, but failed to deliver peace," Kelly told the Associated Press. "President Trump is right to reduce failed, useless entities like USIP to their statutory minimum, and this rogue judge’s attempt to impede on the separation of powers will not be the last say on the matter." 

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.