U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell has concluded that the $500 million U.S. Institute of Peace headquarters may be transferred to the General Services Administration at no cost, Wired reported. This was decided even as legal battles continued.
The fight over the building came after the Department of Government Efficiency dismissed 10 USIP board members on March 14. When DOGE workers tried to enter the building, the USIP staffers physically prevented it.
Since then, DOGE received a physical key and took over the space, which Howell has acknowledged in the decision not to stop them at the moment. "Ambiguity persists given the paucity of apposite law regarding USIP's proper classification as an ‘independent establishment’ or ‘Government corporation’ that rests outside of or within the executive branch and whether it qualifies as an agency," she wrote.
However, the judge indicated there would be further review and had previously denied USIP's request to reinstate the board. "This issue will be more fully addressed in the expedited summary judgment briefing being prepared by the parties," Howell said.
As of Saturday, the building and its contents were turned over to the GSA. Howell's decision Tuesday took that fact into account, though it doesn't mean it's a final determination of what's to become of the property.
"The deal is no longer merely ‘proposed’ but done, rendering plaintiffs’ requested relief moot as to that property," Howell wrote. This is a measured approach, but USIP general counsel George Foote took issue with Howell's rationale.
"That’s like letting a burglar break into your house, steal your TV, and have the court say, well, there’s no TV to adjudicate, so I can’t do anything about it," he said. However, USIP was the party in the wrong when staffers engaged in a standoff after being ordered out.
According to Fox News, President Donald Trump's executive order in February demanded that USIP, which was established in 1984 and funded by Congress, would have to cut staff to a bare minimum. After refusing to do so, the Trump administration moved as it had warned.
"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," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said.
Amid the row over the building and contents, another issue has emerged regarding what the USIP was doing, according to the Washington Times. In an exchange on X, formerly Twitter, a user posted a headline claiming that a USIP contract for $1.3 million went to "Taliban and Iraqi leaders" for Iraqi League for Youth.
This implied that the USIP was funding America's enemies, though there was no evidence given to back it up. However, Elon Musk, the outgoing head of DOGE, further insinuated that the agency covered its tracks.
"They deleted a terabyte of financial data to cover their crimes, but they don’t understand technology, so we recovered it," Musk posted. It remains to be seen if any of this is verified to date.
They deleted a terabyte of financial data to cover their crimes, but they don’t understand technology, so we recovered it 🙄
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2025
The pushback against DOGE is at a fever pitch as Musk seeks to streamline the government. These employees at USIP and other taxpayer-funded government agencies are used to their cushy jobs and bloated salaries, and they won't give up without a fight.
