A federal judge has denied an emergency restraining order from the U.S. Institute of Peace — one that would have temporarily halted Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from taking over the organization.
USIP sued the Trump administration on Tuesday night, claiming attacks by the budget-slashing DOGE culminated in a “literal trespass and takeover” of the institute on Monday night. USIP had urged the court to block DOGE’s seizure and to reverse the Trump administration’s attempted removal of 10 USIP board members and its president.
“Defendants are literally in the process of unlawfully destroying property and accessing and taking over the computer systems of the United States Institute of Peace,” states a memorandum in support of the lawsuit, which was filed on March 18. “Immediate intervention by this Court is appropriate to stop the ongoing destruction of the Institute’s physical and electronic property until the Court can further consider the merits.”
About the author
Elissa Miolene
Elissa Miolene reports on USAID and the U.S. government at Devex. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washingtonian magazine, among others. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for humanitarian agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.
