DOGE Says It Entered Peace Institute Building With Police Escort Amid Alleged Standoff

George Moose, an official associated with the U.S. Institute of Peace, said it is not a federal agency or in a federal building.

The U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington on Jan. 27, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said its staffers, along with acting U.S. Institute of Peace President Kenneth Jackson, entered the institute’s headquarters in Washington with police amid what it described as a standoff.

Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) wrote on the social media platform Bluesky that he was at the building to “conduct congressional oversight” and claimed DOGE engaged in a “break in” at the facility. He said he spoke to George Moose, the former acting head of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), describing it as “an independent, non-profit entity.”

“I will work to stop DOGE’s illegal power grab,” Beyer said.

Current USIP employees said staffers from DOGE entered the building despite claims that the institute is not part of the executive branch. USIP called the police, whose vehicles were outside the building on Monday evening.

While speaking with reporters, Moose said that USIP is a “private, nonprofit corporation in the District of Columbia ... and therefore, not a federal agency.” He also said that he and his staff were preparing for weeks for such an event.

He said the institute’s headquarters, located across the street from the State Department, is not a federal building. Speaking to reporters after leaving the building, Moose noted that “it was very clear that there was a desire on the part of the administration to dismantle a lot of what we call foreign assistance, and we are part of that family.”

Moose vowed legal action and alleged that “what has happened here today is an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit.”

In a March 17 post on social media platform X, DOGE stated that Moose allegedly “denied lawful access [by] Kenneth Jackson, the Acting USIP President (as approved by the USIP Board),” to the building. Officers with the DC Metropolitan Police Department later “arrived onsite and escorted Mr. Jackson into the building,” according to DOGE.

“The only unlawful individual was Mr. Moose, who refused to comply, and even tried to fire USIP’s private security team when said security team went to give access to Mr. Jackson,” DOGE said in its statement.

DOGE’s post included a document showing a resolution issued by USIP’s board of directors, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, to remove Moose as head of the agency and replace him with Jackson.

The Epoch Times contacted the Metropolitan Police Department and USIP for comment on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the department told news media outlets that officers responded to a call for unlawful entry and individuals left the premises without incident. No arrests were made, the department said.

In February, President Donald Trump signed an order to eliminate USIP and several other “governmental entities” to “the maximum extent consistent with applicable law” in a bid to reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy.

The administration has since moved to fire and cancel programs at some of those organizations, following its dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the reduction in employee numbers at other agencies, including the Department of Education.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said on Monday that USIP’s actions were in “noncompliance” with Trump’s order. She said “11 board members were lawfully removed, and remaining board members appointed Kenneth Jackson acting president,” according to the statement.

“Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage,“ Kelly said. ”The Trump administration will enforce the President’s executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people.”

Members of the U.S. Congress established USIP through legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, creating what it describes as a nonpartisan and independent organization designed to protect U.S. interests by preventing wars and facilitating peace agreements, according to its website.

The institution receives funding through congressional appropriations and is governed by a board that includes the secretaries of defense and state.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.