Many at U.S. Institute of Peace Fired as Trump Seeks Nonprofit's End

[dalton99a]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/us/politics/institute-of-peace-trump-firings.html

Many at U.S. Institute of Peace Fired as Trump Seeks Nonprofit’s End
Nearly all of the institute’s U.S.-based staff members were fired and asked to sign a separation agreement, according to notices reviewed by The Times.
By Aishvarya Kavi
March 29, 2025 Updated 9:15 p.m. ET

Nearly all of the U.S. Institute of Peace’s staff members in the United States were fired on Friday, a sharp escalation of the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE team’s efforts to eliminate the government-funded independent nonprofit, according to current and former staff members and termination notices obtained by The New York Times.

The late-night firings of about 100 workers at the organization dealt it a severe blow as Trump officials have sought to exert control over the nonprofit and to dismantle it. Earlier this month, the administration and Mr. Musk’s team gained access to the institute’s building in a dramatic showdown, with the help of private security and local law enforcement.

The White House did not answer questions about whether the administration planned to entirely eliminate the institute, which was created by Congress 41 years ago to support diplomatic solutions to global conflicts. But a spokeswoman suggested that President Trump saw no purpose to the institute’s work.

The Trump administration first targeted the institute in a February executive order that called for the institute’s work and its staff to be reduced to its “minimum presence and function required by law.”

According to court documents in a lawsuit filed this month disputing the takeover, George Moose, the institute’s former acting president who was ousted this month, said he learned in a February meeting with Trump officials that the administration defined the staffing minimum as only a board of directors and a president.

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[Shipwack]

1. How?

Fired by who?

I thought the Institute was an independent organization. Who issued the termination orders? Can they just tell the administration to pack sand?