DOGE Is Trying to Gift Itself a $500 Million Building, Court Filings Show

The DOGE-affiliated acting president of the United States Institute of Peace, a Congressionally funded, autarkic deliberation tank, has moved to transportation the agency’s $500 cardinal office gathering to the General Services Administration escaped of charge, according to tribunal documents revealed successful a precocious filed lawsuit.

Tensions astatine USIP person been escalating for weeks, starting erstwhile the Trump medication fired the agency’s 10 voting committee members connected March 14 and USIP staffers denied DOGE representatives entree astatine the beforehand door. Three days later, DOGE employees made their mode into the building, reportedly utilizing a carnal cardinal from a erstwhile information contractor. The melodramatic confrontations culminated successful a afloat takeover, with erstwhile State Department authoritative Kenneth Jackson assuming the relation of president. As of this past Friday, astir USIP staffers person received termination notices.

Former USIP officials person since filed a suit against Jackson, DOGE, Donald Trump, and different members of the Trump administration, seeking an contiguous involution “to halt Defendants from completing the unlawful dismantling of the Institute,” according to the complaint. While US territory justice Beryl Howell declined the USIP petition for a impermanent restraining bid that would reinstate the institute’s committee connected March 19, she sharply criticized DOGE’s conquest successful court.

Court documents filed by defendants connected Monday uncover the adjacent signifier of DOGE’s plans for USIP. As of March 25, DOGE staffer Nate Cavanaugh—formerly installed astatine GSA—has replaced Jackson arsenic the institute’s acting president, the documents show. They further authorities that Cavanaugh has been instructed to transportation USIP’s assets—including its existent estate—to the GSA. The missive detailing those changes and instructions was signed by caput of defence Pete Hegseth and caput of authorities Marco Rubio.

Cavanaugh did not instantly respond to a petition for remark by WIRED. The pb lawyer for the Department of Justice successful this lawsuit besides did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

In a abstracted undated letter, which was besides included successful the batch of documents filed with the court, Cavanaugh writes to GSA acting head Stephen Ehikian: “I person concluded that it is successful the champion involvement of USIP, the national government, and the United States for USIP to transportation its existent spot located astatine 2301 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20037, to GSA and to question an objection from the 100 percent reimbursement request for the building.”

Cavanaugh goes connected to estimation that the gathering has a “fair marketplace value” of $500 million.

In different missive included successful the lawsuit’s docket dated March 29, Project 2025 designer and Office of Management and Budget manager Russell Vought writes to Ehikian to o.k. his petition “to acceptable the magnitude of reimbursement astatine nary outgo for the transportation of the United States Institute of Peace’s (USIP) office building.”

To authorities this plainly: DOGE forced retired the directors and unit of a nonexecutive agency, installed 1 of its ain GSA staffers arsenic president, and that idiosyncratic is present attempting to manus the institute’s $500 cardinal office implicit to the bureau helium came from, astatine zero cost.

“The effort to transportation the gathering to GSA is portion of the DOGE playbook to tally agencies done a wood chipper. That’s what they’re trying to do,” claims George Foote, longtime extracurricular wide counsel to USIP. “They’re trying to termination the agency, which they person nary close to do.”

Judge Howell volition determine whether to let the transportation successful tribunal Tuesday; a broader ruling successful the USIP lawsuit is expected by the extremity of the month.

Additional reporting by Matt Giles.