Employees at the United States Institute of Peace were terminated for a second time by the Trump administration, after a federal court ruling last month paved the way, according to multiple fired employees.
USIP employees originally received termination letters on March 28, though a federal judge ruled in May that the Trump administration unlawfully removed the board of USIP and that subsequent actions taken by officials installed by DOGE to cripple the agency are therefore “null and void.” In late June, a federal appeals court stayed that ruling, leading to this week’s firings.
“These actions reflect a continued pattern of DOGE’s cruel indifference toward USIP’s dedicated workforce. Beyond the harm to these committed professionals, such reckless actions will immediately end the important training, education, facilitation, and research work that USIP does around the world in the field of conflict resolution,” [Liz] Callihan, a former senior adviser for strategic engagement at USIP, said in a statement.
USIP is not a federal agency within the executive branch. It was created by Congress as a nonpartisan, independent body in 1984 that owns and manages its headquarters.
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