Appeals Court Puts Peace Institute Back in Trump Administration Hands With Stay of Lower Court [View all]
Source: US News and World Report/AP
June 27, 2025, at 5:59 p.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court panel on Friday stayed a lower court ruling that blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with dismantling the U.S. Institute of Peace, an organization taken over in March by the Department of Government Efficiency, then led by Elon Musk.
The three-judge panel with the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit issued the stay, saying the Trump administration's appeal of U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell's opinion would likely succeed on the merits. The stay added that the president would face “irreparable harm from not being able to fully exercise his executive powers.”
The appeal's court action is the latest turn in the government's shutdown of the USIP, which had been turned back over to the organization's board and acting president following Howell's May 19 ruling. It also places the staff's attempt at restarting its operations in limbo.
President Donald Trump issued the executive order in February that targeted the institute and three other agencies for closure in an effort to deliver on campaign promises to shrink the size of the federal government. The first attempt by DOGE to take over the headquarters led to a standoff. Members of Musk’s DOGE group returned days later with the FBI and Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police to help them gain entry.
Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2025-06-27/appeals-court-puts-peace-institute-back-in-trump-administration-hands-with-stay-of-lower-court
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