Appeals court puts peace institute back in Trump administration hands with stay of lower court
WASHINGTON AP A federal appeals court panel on Friday stayed a lower court ruling that blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with dismantling the U S Institute of Peace an organization taken over in March by the Department of Leadership Efficiency then led by Elon Musk The three-judge panel with the U S Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit issued the stay saying the Trump administration s appeal of U S District Court Judge Beryl Howell s opinion would likely succeed on the merits The stay added that the president would face irreparable harm from not being able to fully exercise his executive powers The appeal s court action is the latest turn in the cabinet s shutdown of the USIP which had been turned back over to the organization s board and acting president following Howell s May ruling It also places the staff s attempt at restarting its operations in limbo President Donald Trump issued the executive order in February that targeted the institute and three other agencies for closure in an effort to deliver on campaign promises to shrink the size of the federal leadership The first attempt by DOGE to take over the headquarters led to a standoff Members of Musk s DOGE group returned days later with the FBI and Washington D C Metropolitan Police to help them gain entry The institute and plenty of of its board members sued the Trump administration March seeking to prevent their removal and to prevent DOGE from taking over its operations The firing of the board was followed by a Friday night mass firing by email on March which threw the workforce into turmoil DOGE transferred the administrative oversight of the organization s headquarters and assets to the General Services Administration that weekend Howell in a lengthy opinion in May reversed the action when she determined the organization was not part of the executive branch and therefore Trump did not have authority to fire its board and acting president She ruled that all subsequent actions including the firing of most of of the staff the cessation of operations and the takeover of its headquarters and assets were illegal as well Howell denied a executive request for a stay of her opinion while the establishment appeals a move that led acting president George Moose and others to reclaim the headquarters and begin trying to ramp USIP s operations back up Those efforts have been slow going with much of the staff still furloughed and operations in parts of the world shut down In filings with the higher court supporting its request for an appeal and a stay of Howell s order the establishment argued that as evidenced by its programmatic grant making and peacebuilding sessions USIP was exercising considerable executive power The filings also went on to explain the board members are subject to the president s at-will removal authority In issuing the stay the appeals court agreed saying the nonprofit think tank that focuses on peace initiatives engaged in sessions that fall under the purview of the executive branch It was unclear Friday if there would be another change of hands of the headquarters The White House was not without delay available for comment A press announcement from the organization mentioned we will continue to fight for USIP s right to fulfill its commitment to our congressional mandate and to control USIP s headquarters funds and operations to the fullest extent of the law We remain confident we will prevail in this circumstance and we look forward to continuing our critical work both at our headquarters in Washington DC and in conflict zones around the world Source
