US Institute for Peace sues to block 'literal trespass and takeover' by DOGE

The U.S. Institute for Peace (USIP) is asking a court to block the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from dismantling the agency, saying it experienced a “literal trespass and takeover by force” by its personnel. 

“On March 17, 2025, the attacks culminated in the literal trespass and takeover by force by Defendants, including representatives of DOGE, of the Institute’s headquarters building on Constitution Avenue. Once physically inside the Institute’s headquarters, DOGE personnel and other representatives of Defendants have plundered the offices in an effort to access and gain control of the Institute’s infrastructure, including sensitive computer systems,” the institute wrote in its court filing.

The institute has asked for a temporary restraining order 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.”

Photos included with the filing show photos of the office after DOGE’s arrival, with the institute's financial documents placed in a bin labeled “shred.” Another showed a collection of letters lying on the ground after the advisory board's staff apparently ripped down a USIP logo from the wall.

Another court filing includes an affidavit from USIP’s chief security officer, describing a scene in which police facilitated the entry of DOGE staff into the institute’s headquarters. On both Friday and Monday, the group's staff arrived at headquarters alongside FBI agents.

At one point Monday, the firm’s prior private security firm — whose contract was ended after it coordinated with DOGE — also appeared at the building, at one point “proceed[ing] to walk toward the Institute’s gun safe,” pushing USIP staff to ignite its lockdown policy.

The suit said DOGE officials “plundered the offices in an effort to access and gain control of the Institute’s infrastructure, including sensitive computer systems.” 

The institute was one of several small agencies targeted by President Trump in a Feb. 19 order directing that they “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.”

The Inter-American Foundation, which works on issues across Latin America and the Caribbean, and the U.S. African Development Foundation, which were likewise mentioned in the executive order, have also sued.

The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel argued Trump had the right to boot board members from the board of both foundations, but the memo did not touch on USIP.

But the institute argues its structure is slightly different from other agencies infiltrated by DOGE, describing itself as an “independent nonprofit corporation.” It was established in 1984 to "help resolve and prevent violent conflicts."

“That Order incorrectly labeled the Institute a ‘governmental entit[y]’ that was part of the ‘Federal bureaucracy,’” the lawsuit says.

And while its board is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, the suit says its members can only be removed for “conviction of a felony, malfeasance in office, persistent neglect of duties, or inability to discharge duties.”

The suit says the Trump administration violated the separation of powers laid out in the Constitution as well as the act creating the USIP.

A judge ordered a 2 p.m. EDT hearing on their emergency motion.