The federal District Court for the District of Columbia (Beryl A. Howell) has ruled that the Trump Administration’s attempt to take over and terminate the activities of the United States Institute of Peace, a separate nonprofit corporation, is void.
USIP was created by Congress in 1984 with bipartisan support to advance the pursuit of peace throughout the world and to promote peaceful conflict resolution without directly involving the U.S. government in foreign disputes.
In his first month of office in his second term, President Trump issued Executive Order 14217 unilaterally deciding that USIP is “unnecessary” so that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could remove its president and board members, cut its services, terminate nearly all of its staff, and give its separately owned office building to the General Services Administration. The ousted president, directors and one former director sued.
In a lengthy opinion, the Court found that USIP is a part of the federal government but is not part of the Executive branch subject to the President’s Article II at-will removal authority. It found that the removal of board members violated the corporation’s organic statute’s for-cause removal protections and was void. It found that the removal of the president and appointments of new presidents were also void, and that the defendants lacked lawful authority to enter USIP headquarters and to transfer the building to the GSA.
The Court granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and denied the defendants’ cross motion for summary judgment for the defendants. (United States Institute of Peace v. Jackson, D. DC, No. 25-cv-804, 5/19/25.)
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