By Savannah Kuchar
A stand-off between President Donald Trump’s administration and an independent nonprofit came to a head this week in a dramatic public scene involving police.
Since Friday, members of Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency had sought and been repeatedly denied access to the U.S. Institute of Peace office in Washington. After arriving again unannounced on Monday, the staffers were able to enter with assistance from Metropolitan Police Department officers.
The initial months of Trump’s second term have been marked by his and his billionaire ally’s endeavor to slash bureaucracy, consequently turning much of the federal government on its head. The president and Musk have purged department workforces and aimed to shutter entire agencies.
As Musk was spearheading the aggressive cuts, Trump signed an executive order last month directing four agencies, including the Institute of Peace, to reduce their personnel “to the minimum presence and function required by law” within 14 days. The group tasked with brokering peace and reducing foreign conflict is independent of the executive branch but receives annual funding from Congress.
What followed was the expulsion of nearly a dozen institute board members and a series of faceoffs between the nonprofit and DOGE.
And this latest incident comes on the heels of Trump’s overhaul of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where he ousted several board members and named himself the new chairman. It also follows DOGE’s gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
What is the Institute of Peace?
The U.S. Institute of Peace was created by Congress in 1984, under former President Ronald Reagan, and specializes in resolving violent conflicts, according to its website. The organization describes itself online as “a lean and cost-effective national security tool.”
Officials from the institute have pushed back on Trump and Musk’s cutting efforts by pointing to its status as an “independent organization,” saying that makes them exempt from DOGE directives.
Several DOGE members arrived with FBI agents in tow Friday, according to a press release by USIP, but left after the institute’s outside counsel told them the institute has a private status as a non-executive branch agency.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the move was in response to USIP’s noncompliance with Trump’s February reduction order.
“Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage,” Kelly said in a statement. “The Trump administration will enforce the President’s executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people.”
Board overhaul, building takeover
Monday’s events appeared to be an escalation.
“DOGE has broken into our building,” said George Moose, who was removed from his position as president of the institute but is challenging the dismissal, the New York Times reported.
The president on Friday removed 11 of 14 board members, leaving Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Defense University President Peter Garvin. The three remaining board members voted to oust Moose and replace him with State Department official Kenneth Jackson.
Jackson was there with DOGE staffers Monday when Musk’s team gained entry into the institute’s headquarters with the help of police.
Moose, speaking to press outside the office building, accused them of unlawful entry, New York Times reported.
“What has happened here today,” he told reporters, “is an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit corporation.”