Hundreds of former diplomats and military members joined fired U.S. Institute of Peace employees in calling on a district court judge to block the Trump administration’s effort to shutter the independent organization.
The two groups filed separate amicus briefs on Tuesday in support of USIP’s case against the Trump White House. Both groups called the administration’s takeover of the institute invalid and urged D.C. District Court Judge Beryl Howell to restore control of the agency to its “duly appointed board.”
The briefs were signed by 128 former USIP employees, some of whom recorded over 30 years of service with the institute, and 133 former senior military and foreign policy government officials. The list includes dozens of former ambassadors, generals and admirals, plus and ex-Defense Secretary William J. Perry.
Both briefs echoed arguments made by USIP lawyers, with former employees and foreign policy experts asserting that the agency is not an arm of the executive branch and that the Trump administration’s firing of board members wasn’t legal.
“It does not create government policy, and it does not execute policy; it does not regulate, and it does not enforce. Rather, the Institute trains and researches, studies and convenes,” the former service members wrote. “It is the very fact that USIP is not part of the Executive Branch and does not exert executive power that has made the Institute an effective partner to national security officials addressing challenges in conflict zones and developing national security policy.”
The two briefs add to the legal battle between former USIP employees and the Trump White House. The president targeted USIP and other independent agencies in his Feb. 19 executive order. Acting on that order, representatives from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency took over USIP offices with the help of law enforcement in mid-March.
Additionally, USIP’s board has been reduced to just three members: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Defense University President Peter Garvin.
Shortly after the takeover, DOGE’s Nate Cavanaugh became the acting president of USIP and oversaw mass firings at the organization. He has also begun proceedings to transfer all of USIP’s assets, including its offices on the National Mall, to the General Services Administration.
Since the takeover, lawyers for USIP have sued to block the firings and the transfer of USIP’s assets to the GSA, which falls under the executive branch. The lawyers failed to secure a temporary restraining order immediately following the takeover, with Judge Howell preferring to see how the case plays out. She also did not stop asset transfer proceedings despite pleas from USIP’s lawyers.
Congress established USIP in 1984 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting peace.
The Justice Department has argued that USIP is part of the federal bureaucracy and that DOGE’s takeover of the organization is consistent with executive authority and Mr. Trump’s Feb. 19 executive order.
The Justice Department is expected to file an updated brief on Friday, and Judge Howell is set to rule on the future of USIP this month.
