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Obama judge strikes again, overrules DOGE takeover of shady ‘U.S. Institute of Peace’

May 20, 2025 | | Print Article

A notorious far-left Obama judge ruled on Monday that the Trump administration illegally took over the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP).

In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, a notorious Obama appointee linked strongly with the left (see the video below), slammed the administration for taking over USIP earlier this year and then replacing its top officials with members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Howell specifically ruled that “the removal of USIP’s president, his replacement by officials affiliated with DOGE, the termination of nearly all of USIP’s staff, and the transfer of USIP property to the General Services Administration” were “effectuated by illegitimately-installed leaders who lacked legal authority to take these actions, which must therefore be declared null and void.”

By “illegally-installed leaders,” she meant the DOGE staffers.

Howell continued by accusing the Trump administration and DOGE of having “used brute force and threats of criminal process to take over USIP’s headquarters, despite being cautioned that this organization did not fall within the executive branch and its leadership was not subject to the president’s unilateral executive branch removal power.”

On account of Howell’s order, former American diplomat George Moose has been reinstated as USIP’s president. He was previously fired by the Trump administration on March 14, after which he infamously tried to block DOGE staffers from entering the agency’s facility.

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USIP’s former leftist staffers were thrilled by the ruling.

“There’s a lot to interpret from [the ruling], but for the time being, today is a day of celebration for the Institute and the staff,” former USP Vice President Michael Phelan happily told CNN.

Former USIP Senior Program Officer Tonis Montes added that she was “incredulous, so excited, just crying for joy” over the ruling.

Incidentally, Howell concluded her ruling by shedding tears over these former staffers’ alleged trauma.

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“The President’s efforts here to take over an organization outside of those bounds, contrary to statute established by Congress and by acts of force and threat using local and federal law enforcement officers, represented a gross usurpation of power and a way of conducting government affairs that unnecessarily traumatized the committed leadership and employees of USIP, who deserved better,” she wrote.

This isn’t the first time that Howell has ruled against the Trump administration or against Trump supporters.

“Earlier this year, she found that Trump’s firing of a member of the National Labor Relations Board was an ‘illegal act,'” CNN notes.

Back in 2021, she accused even low-level Jan. 6 offenders of “terrorizing members of Congress” and complained about them receiving sentences that she deemed to be too lenient.

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Critics responded to her latest ruling by noting that she was protecting an agency that once reportedly granted a $130,000 contract to a former Taliban member.

Look:

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Vivek Saxena
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