Judge slams Trump's attempt to shut down USIP, orders full restoration

President Trump’s attempt to fire the board of directors and shut down the U.S. Institute of Peace was illegal, a federal judge ruled Monday, as she restored the ousted officers and told the government to keep the funding flowing to the USIP.

Judge Beryl A. Howell, an Obama pick to the federal court in the District of Columbia, said the case tested the limits of Mr. Trump’s powers, with the USIP falling in a unique zone that lies on the edge between the president and Congress.

But Judge Howell concluded that it was more a creature of Congress than of the executive, so Mr. Trump went too far when he “used brute force” to boot the board members, take control and terminate operations.

“The president’s efforts here to take over an organization outside of those bounds, contrary to statute established by Congress and by acts of force and threat using local and federal law enforcement officers, represented a gross usurpation of power and a way of conducting government affairs that unnecessarily traumatized the committed leadership and employees of USIP, who deserved better,” the judge ruled.

The case has been filled with drama, including a tense stand-off at the agency’s headquarters and threats of prosecutions.

Legally, it went to the heart of Mr. Trump’s claims of executive power, his attempt to slim the bureaucracy and his ability to fire government officials — all of it taking place within the activities of his Department of Government Efficiency.

In February, Mr. Trump moved to curtail USIP’s activities to the bare minimum. Agency leaders resisted, so in March the president fired the appointed board members.

That left three ex officio members, all Trump loyalists, who then voted to remove George Moose as president of USIP and name a new president.

USIP officials then blocked the DOGE officials from entering the building, and the Justice Department got involved, threatening a criminal case against USIP. Police showed up and got the Trump officials in, and they then began a purge of the agency.

That included transferring the agency’s $500 million headquarters back to the General Services Administration and a general layoff of the agency’s 400 employees.

Judge Howell said the case presented “novel” questions about USIP and where it falls in the country’s constitutional structure.

She said it had elements of a government agency, but also traits of a nongovernmental organization. She ruled it was closer to an agency — but “not part of the Executive Branch.”

Instead it acts as an independent think tank. That means, she said, that Congress was within its power to put limits on the president’s ability to fire its members.

Judge Howell ruled that the firings were “null, void and without legal effect,” as were the president’s replacement picks. All of the replacements’ decisions are also void.

She restored Mr. Moose to the role of president and said he “may not be removed or treated in any way as having been removed, or otherwise obstructed from carrying out his duties.”