A federal judge has ruled in favor of the U.S. Institute of Peace, declaring that President Donald Trump’s efforts to dissolve the organization violated constitutional law and represented a “gross usurpation of power.”
The decision follows months of legal back-and-forth around the U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent nonprofit organization established by Congress in 1984. For decades, the institute conducted research, training, and peacebuilding activities across the world. But earlier this year, the Trump administration removed the majority of USIP’s board, replaced its leadership, and seized its headquarters.
The institute filed a lawsuit that challenged Trump’s authority to do so — and on Tuesday, District Judge Beryl Howell issued an opinion stating that those actions were unlawful.