WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) members entered the US Institute of Peace (USIP) headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Monday night, despite protests that the agency is an independent nonprofit, officials said.
Congress founded the USIP in 1984 as a nonpartisan, independent organization “dedicated to protecting U.S. interests by helping prevent violent conflicts and broker peace deals abroad,” according to the institute’s website.
The DOGE workers gained access to the institute’s headquarters after several unsuccessful attempts and after having been turned away Friday, according to a report from the Associated Press.
“I’ve come down here because this is not a federal agency; this is an agency that does not report to Donald Trump,” Rep. Don Beyer, D-VA, told DC News Now, outside the USIP headquarters Monday night. “It’s a congressionally chartered nonprofit, and like thousands of nonprofits, it gets some federal funding, but that’s all subject to review by Congress, not the President of the United States.
“I’m just here to make sure the American people know that this is a violation of the law, it’s almost certainly unconstitutional, and this is the wrong way to rightsize the federal government,” he continued.
In addition, Beyer said he talked to USIP President and CEO George Moose (who was reportedly fired on Friday) after he was allegedly removed from the building Monday evening.
“He [Moose] also said he was determined to get the lawyers moving tonight… to open the building back up to its people. This is not a federal agency, it doesn’t report to the president of the United States,” Beyer added.
Trump targeted USIP and a few other organizations in a February executive order aiming to downsize the federal government.
The administration has since moved to fire and cancel programs at some of those institutions, following its dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and shuttering of other agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education, according to AP.
Regarding the alleged “break-in” Monday night, Beyer said that the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) assisted DOGE in entering the headquarters and that all USIP employees were “forced out.” However, the Associated Press reported that USIP had called police on the DOGE workers.
In a statement to DC News Now, MPD said the following:
“MPD responded to a call for service for Unlawful Entry at the United States Institute for Peace. Officers responded to the location and the individuals left the premise without incident and no arrests were made”
The Metropolitan Police Department
