The Trump administration thwarted the Peace Institute of “fraudulent bureaucrats” who held tense standoffs, according to the White House on Monday, according to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) teams and tense standoffs.
“Rogue officials are not allowed to hold agencies hostage,” White House spokesman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “The Trump administration will enforce the president's executive body and ensure that his agency is held accountable to the American people.”
The Peace Institute is an independent national institution funded by Congress, established under the Reagan administration in 1984 to promote peace and diplomacy on the international stage.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February on reducing the “scope of the federal bureaucracy.” This has specifically targeted the size of the Peace Institute and other government programs, such as the American Foundation for African Development and the American American Foundation. That executive order followed one person on January 20th by instructing agency leaders to establish Doge and establish their own DOGE team within the agency.
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George Moose, formerly of the Peace Institute, will speak to media members on March 17, 2025. (Getty Images)
However, the Peace Institute was not complying with the February executive order, and the Trump administration fired 11 of its 14 board members last week to reduce its size to a statutory minimum.
“President Trump has signed an executive order to reduce USIP to a statutory minimum,” Kelly said. “After the violation, 11 board members were legally removed, and the remaining board members appointed acting president Kenneth Jackson.”
The remaining board members include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses, and President Peter Garvin of the University of Defense.
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Moose was a Clinton-era diplomat and served as Secretary of State for Africa during Rwanda's Genocide in 1994. The board replaced Moose with State Department official Kenneth Jackson as his acting president.
Jackson tried to enter the Peace Institute building in Washington, D.C. over the weekend, but was denied access by the institute's employees, administrative officials told Fox News Digital.
March 17, 2025, Peace Research Institute in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
The standoff hit the fever pitch on Monday when Jackson and the Doge team were trying to get admission to the building again, but the already fired Moose accused them of breaking into the building and vowed to file a lawsuit. Management officials told Fox Digital that they “basically barricaded” in his previous office after Moose was fired.
“Our law is very clear about the building and the status of this institute,” Moose told reporters Monday. “So what happened here today is an illegal acquisition by elements of the enforcement division of private nonprofits.”
Jackson and the Doge team had a conversation with local police on Monday, and Fox Digital learned as they worked to get admission to the building. The Metropolitan Police Department reported that it received a call from the US Lawyer's Office around 4pm that day regarding an ongoing incident at the lab and reported it to the scene.
On March 18, 2025, a sign read “Trespassing” can be seen at the entrance to the USIP Architecture Headquarters in Washington. (Getty Images)
“MPD members met with the acting USIP Chairman, providing MPD members with a document that he is acting USIP President, and all powers have been delegated to that role by the USIP board,” the police department said in a news release of the incident on Monday. “The acting USIP president advised MPD members that they had refused to allow fraudulent individuals to leave the building and to provide access to the facility.”
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“MPD members went to the USIP building and contacted individuals who authorized MPD members within the building,” the release states. “As we entered the building, the acting USIP president requested that all unauthorized individuals in the building take leave.”
On March 17, 2025, a police vehicle outside the US Peace Institute in Washington. (Getty Images)
Jackson was able to enter the building upon police intervention. Moose left the building safely and no arrests were made, police said.
“Mr. Moose denied legal access to acting USIP Chairman Kenneth Jackson (approved by the USIP Committee). @dcpolicedept We arrived on the property and escorted Mr. Jackson into the building. The only illegal individual was Mr. Moose. He refused to comply and attempted to fire USIP's private security team when the security team tried to access Mr Jackson.
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The administrative official told Fox Digital that the incident was “a prime example of a fraudulent bureaucrat who has been wanting to continue to unilaterally extend taxes for decades (in the government) over the years, essentially without oversight.
The Peace Institute filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in D.C. District Court on Tuesday, calling for “thwarting defendants from completing the illegal demolition of the institute and irreparably blocking the plaintiffs' ability to carry out important peace promotion and conflict resolution tasks appointed by Congress.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press conference Wednesday that staff physically barricaded the building.
“There was a coordinated effort among the unauthorized bureaucrats of the United States Peace Institute to prevent political appointees of the building's administration, to prevent political appointees of this administration who work in the direction of the US president, to actually physically barricade them within the building,” she said.
“They barricaded the doors, they also disabled telephone lines, internet connections and other IT infrastructure within the building. They distributed flyers internally, and encouraged each other to essentially prevent these individuals from accessing the building,” continued Leavitt. “This is resistance from bureaucrats who don't want to see the change in this city. President Trump was elected on the overwhelming mission of seeking change and implementing change. This is an unacceptable action.”
The Peace Institute filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in DC District Court on March 18, 2025. (Alex Brandon/Applications)
The standoff followed other “fraudulent bureaucrats” at the US African Development Foundation, with another Doge team and representatives of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Peter Marocco winning entry into the building on March 12th.
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The Doge team returned to the USADF with a US ex after the Justice Department determined it was entitled to the building. USADF is an independent governmental body founded by Congress in 1980, and according to its website, to support “Africa-owned and Africa-led companies.”
The Trump administration thwarted the Peace Institute of “fraudulent bureaucrats” who held tense standoffs with the Government Efficiency Bureau team on March 17, 2025. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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USADF President Ward Brehm, who was fired by the administration last week, has since filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, asking the district court to ban him from exclusion from his position. A federal judge denied Bream's request. Marrocco has been appointed acting chairman of the USADF board of directors.
Aubrie Spady from Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
