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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, left, and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump attend a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) carried out an “illegal takeover” Monday of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) building in Washington, D.C., according to officials who worked there and members of Congress.
George Moose, the institute’s former president — who was fired last week amid ongoing efforts by DOGE to “eliminate” the institute and other agencies involved in foreign assistance work — spoke to reporters during the dramatic, midafternoon raid and said he was planning to take legal action against the Trump administration for what happened.
“Our statute is very clear about the status of this building and this institute,” he told reporters, according to The New York Times. “So what has happened here today is an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit corporation.”
The USIP is an independent agency created in 1984 to prevent violent conflicts and broker peace deals abroad.
DOGE, which is led by billionaire Elon Musk, allegedly strong-armed its way into the USIP building after individuals who claimed to work for Musk’s cost-cutting crew and “representatives of the FBI and of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia” began attempting to get inside over the weekend after firing folks with the USIP, including Moose.
“[They] were approaching members of our staff and our workforce to try to intimidate their way into getting into the building,” Moose told CNN in a phone interview while hunkered down in his locked office Monday as DOGE went through the USIP building looking for terminated officials to kick out.
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Musk’s team allegedly called Washington, D.C., police to assist in the “takeover” and remove Moose, as well as several others, who were declared unlawful entrants by DOGE and cops. An executive order issued by President Trump on Feb. 19 lists the USIP as one of four U.S. entities being “eliminated to maximum extent consistent with applicable law” as a way to “reduce the performance” and cut government costs.
“We had not expected that the FBI would succeed in enlisting the support and collaboration of the District of Columbia police, with whom we have had a great relationship,” Moose told CNN. “Somehow, FBI has managed to convince the D.C. police that this is a building that is owned by the U.S. government and not by the U.S. Institute of Peace.”
Founded by Congress in 1984, the USIP describes itself online as a “nonpartisan, independent organization” dedicated to protecting U.S. interests. “Our work helps keep America safe, reducing the risk that the United States will be drawn into costly foreign wars that drive terrorism, criminal gangs and migration,” the institute says.
“The employees of our building are not federal employees, executive branch employees,” Moose told reporters Monday after leaving the USIP building, according to local NBC affiliate WRC. “They are employees of the institute. We have our own, separate board; we have our own bypass authority to go directly to Congress in order to get our money.”
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Moose said that USIP officials had been communicating with Washington, D.C., police over fears they had about this happening after Trump’s executive order was issued in February. “Somehow, all of those arguments have not prevailed,” he told reporters.
Colin O’Brien, chief of security for USIP, told CNN that the FBI notified him over the weekend that DOGE would be attempting to enter the USIP building. He said one of his security officers was even visited at his home by two FBI agents.
“It’s disappointing,” O’Brien said. “When you look at the mission of the United States Institute of Peace, its job is to prevent Americans from getting into costly wars. It’s to bring peace, and our president has said he wants to be a peacemaker, and we are ready, willing and able to assist with that mission.”
Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., told reporters outside the USIP building that he spoke with officials about the “takeover” and was going to “report back to House leadership” about what happened — saying, “We’ll try to do something in the U.S. Congress.”
“USIP is a congressionally chartered nonprofit,” Beyer explained. “It is not a federal agency. We think it’s clearly illegal and unconstitutional for DOGE to be taking it over.”
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