A federal judge called DOGE’s actions at the United States Institute of Peace “unlawful.”

The courts have decided against DOGE and the US government in their legal battle to take full control of the United States Institute of Peace, including a headquarters building with an estimated value of $500 million.

In a memorandum opinion, US district court judge Beryl Howell ruled in favor of the former institute board and staff who had sued to be reinstalled at the agency after DOGE affiliates forcibly removed them in March. She also gave a strong rebuke to the defendants in the case, who include the US DOGE Service, Donald Trump, secretary of defense Pete Hegseth, and several other government representatives and agencies.

“The purported removal of members of the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace (“USIP”) … was unlawful,” Howell wrote in the order, “and therefore null, void, and without legal effect.”