The Trump administration’s recent takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and firing of its leaders and staff members were unlawful acts.

In March 2025, members of Elon Musk’s so-called DOGE team, with the assistance of armed officers of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, forced their way into the U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent research institute on peace and conflict studies. Trump administration officials then forced the USIP leaders and staff out of the building and fired them.

The attack on the USIP represented a major assault on research institutions, academic freedom, and higher education.

The New York Times now reports that “a federal judge ruled on Monday that the Trump administration’s takeover and gutting of the U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent nonprofit created by Congress to seek diplomatic solutions to global conflicts, were unlawful and a ‘gross usurpation of power.’ The judge ordered the reinstatement of officials ejected by the White House.”

“The March takeover and the subsequent termination of most of the institute’s work force followed an executive order from President Trump to cut its staffing to a bare minimum. The judge, Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court in Washington, wrote that such changes required the consent of Congress, but that the Trump administration had removed the institute’s leadership and installed handpicked replacements ‘through blunt force, backed up by law enforcement officers from three separate local and federal agencies.'”

“Judge Howell’s ruling, in a suit brought by former institute officials, was the latest judicial order blocking the administration’s aggressive efforts to assert power over Washington institutions,” according to The New York Times.

“The judge also nullified the transfer of the peace institute’s building to the federal government’s General Services Administration.”

This judicial ruling is significant, addressing one of the most aggressive actions by the Trump administration to dismantle an entire research institution. The judge makes clear that members of the executive branch unlawfully invaded an independent nonprofit institution and that its occupation of the U.S. Institute of Peace’s headquarters constitutes trespassing.

“Judge Howell rejected the Trump administration’s argument that the institute was part of the executive branch. Instead, she wrote, ‘USIP supports both the executive and legislative branches as an independent think tank that carries out its own international peace research, education and training, and information services.’ Her order also prohibits the administration’s ‘further trespass’ of the institute’s headquarters.”

This judicial decision paves the way for a restoration of the U.S. Institute of Peace and, hopefully, the resumption of its work on peace and conflict studies.

Kavi, Aishvarya Kavi. “Judge Rules That Trump Administration Takeover of Institute of Peace Is Illegal.” The New York Times (20 March 2025).