Timeline of a Takeover: What Happened at the U.S. Institute of Peace
The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) is, as its name implies, a peacebuilding organization.
World War II veterans U.S. Senators Mark Hatfield and Spark Matsunaga led the effort in the U.S. Congress to create USIP in 1984 as an independent nonprofit corporation dedicated to promoting peace by preventing, mitigating, and resolving violent conflict abroad. The U.S. Congress established USIP in 1984 under the Department of Defense Authorization Act.
For more than 40 years, USIP has worked as an intermediary to convene and facilitate global peacebuilding and de-escalation efforts in some of the most dangerous parts of the world.
Recently, those peacebuilding efforts were tested closer to home when the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiated a physical takeover of the USIP headquarters in Washington, D.C., in March 2025, with the participation of USIP’s former contract security vendor, Inter-Con Security.
Here is a condensed timeline of the events that transpired based on interviews with USIP representatives and a review of court documents. Inter-Con Security did not return multiple requests for comment on this series.
19 February 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump issues Executive Order 14217, “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy.” It calls for the elimination, to the maximum extent consistent with law, of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and three other congressionally created organizations.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office. (Photo by the White House)
20 February 2025
Chris Young, a DOGE representative, contacts USIP, which agrees to a virtual meeting on 24 February.
24 February 2025
USIP President and CEO Ambassador George Moose and outside legal counsel George Foote meet virtually with DOGE representatives Nate Cavanaugh, James Burnham, and Jacob Altik to explain that USIP is an independent nonprofit corporation outside of the executive branch.
5 March 2025
USIP submits a courtesy letter to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, responding to requests for information from Executive Order 14217.
8 March 2025
Moose learns that DOGE is inquiring about the status of USIP’s security operations, a tactic the department has used previously to gain entrance to other buildings in Washington, D.C.
9 March 2025
Foote emails Burnham, Altik, and Cavanaugh the information about USIP’s independent nonprofit status and USIP’s ownership of its headquarters building in Washington, D.C. He tells the DOGE representatives that unauthorized personnel will be admitted to the headquarters building only with a valid warrant issued by a court.
14 March 2025
White House Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel Trent Morse emails all appointed members of USIP’s board to inform them that Trump has fired them. Three ex officio board members—U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and National Defense University President Vice Admiral Peter A. Garvin—remain on the board.
Shortly after the email is sent, representatives from DOGE and Kenneth Jackson, a U.S. State Department official, arrive at USIP headquarters and request to enter. They are denied entry.
That evening, Altik and Cavanaugh arrive at USIP headquarters with FBI special agents and a resolution signed by Rubio, Hegseth, and Garvin that removes Moose from his position as president and CEO. The resolution names Jackson as acting president of USIP. They are denied entry again because Foote says the resolution does not appear to be legal.
16 March 2025
Two FBI agents visit a senior USIP security manager, who is on medical leave, at his home to find out how to gain physical access to USIP headquarters.
Foote becomes aware of the visit and contacts the FBI agents, requesting that all inquiries about USIP be directed to him.
The FBI contacts USIP Chief Security Officer Colin O’Brien to discuss USIP’s security procedures. An FBI agent allegedly threatens O’Brien, saying he is the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into the denied entry incident that occurred on 14 March.
U.S. Attorney Jonathan Hornok, District of Columbia Criminal Division chief, calls Foote to request access to USIP headquarters and says there is suspicion that USIP is engaging in criminal behavior.
Hornok calls Foote again, requesting that representatives for USIP board members Rubio and Hegseth be able to inspect records and books. Foote says he will facilitate access upon a written request. Hornok says the representatives will be at USIP headquarters the next day and will expect access, adding that he will criminally investigate anyone who obstructs their access.
USIP suspends Inter-Con Security’s contract. O’Brien deactivates Inter-Con staff members’ badges and retrieves all physical keys except one master key held by Inter-Con account manager Kevin Simpson.
17 March 2025
At about 2:30 p.m., four Inter-Con Security employees arrive at USIP headquarters. They unsuccessfully attempt to enter the building using their deactivated badges.
Simpson then uses the physical key to USIP still in his possession to unlock an exterior door to the building and admit the other Inter-Con employees.
The exterior door at the U.S. Institute of Peace that Kevin Simpson unlocked. (Photo by Megan Gates for Security Management)
Foote, who is already at the building, advises Inter-Con staffers that they are trespassing. Simpson ignores Foote’s warning and walks toward USIP’s armory.
O’Brien calls 911 and reports the four Inter-Con staffers as intruders to the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). O’Brien initiates a building lockdown, and USIP terminates Inter-Con’s suspended contract. A DOGE representative also attempts to gain physical access to the building but is unsuccessful.
About 30 minutes later, Inter-Con personnel, including Simpson, leave USIP headquarters. Simpson maintains possession of the key to USIP’s building.
USIP engineers remove the lock cylinders from doors, which Simpson’s key can unlock, to fully secure them.
Around 5:30 p.m., MPD arrives at USIP. O’Brien opens the door to allow the police officers inside. One officer holds the door open and allows other MPD officers, Jackson, and DOGE affiliates to enter the building. O’Brien initiates another lockdown of the building.
Shortly afterward, O’Brien, Foote, and other USIP staff members are escorted from the building.
Metropolitan Police Department officers who escorted U.S. Institute of Peace outside legal counsel George Foote from the headquarters site. (Photo courtesy of George Foote)
MPD uses a variety of means to defeat the lockdown mechanisms in the building and turn it over to DOGE for physical control.
18 March 2025
USIP board members John J. Sullivan, Mary Swig, Judy Ansley, Joseph L. Falk, and Kerry Kennedy file a complaint against Jackson, DOGE, and several DOGE officials. They also file an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order to stop DOGE’s takeover of USIP.
19 March 2025
DOGE gains access to USIP’s computer systems through USIP’s IT personnel, including a former staff member who drove from the U.S. state of Georgia to Washington, D.C., to assist with the effort.
The case is assigned to Judge Beryl A. Howell, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She does not grant the temporary restraining order.
21 March 2025
Jackson fires six USIP employees with at will status.
28 March 2025
Jackson fires the remainder of the USIP staff.
Rubio and Hegseth remove Jackson and name Cavanaugh as USIP president. He initiates the groundwork to dispose of USIP’s assets and fires USIP’s CFO and COO.
The main desk in the U.S. Institute of Peace lobby after the institute regained control of the headquarters site from the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency. (Photo by Megan Gates for Security Management)
Cavanaugh is instructed to transfer all of USIP’s assets, including those from its endowment ($15 million in donations and $10 million in rolled-over appropriations), to the General Services Administration (GSA).
Cavanaugh also transfers the USIP headquarters site, without compensation, to GSA. The site is intended for use by the U.S. Department of Labor.
19 May 2025
Howell releases her opinion, ruling in favor of USIP and its plaintiffs. She defines USIP as part of the federal government though not an executive branch agency, meaning that Trump’s firing of the board was illegal. All subsequent actions taken by the Trump administration and others to take over USIP after the illegal board terminations were also illegal, Howell writes. She instructs the administration to return the headquarters site and all USIP assets to USIP.
21 May 2025
USIP security staff return to headquarters, speak with GSA representatives, and regain access and control of the site.
Moose returns to the building and holds a press conference.
The USIP recovery effort is set in motion.
The government requests an emergency stay of Howell’s orders, but the stay is denied. The case is assigned to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and initial filing deadlines are issued for 2 June and 9 June.
The main conference room at the U.S. Institute of Peace where the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency representatives based their operations during the takeover. (Photo by Megan Gates for Security Management)
27 June 2025
A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit grants the government a stay of Howell’s ruling pending appeal.
“The President faces irreparable harm not being able to fully exercise his executive powers. That harm outweighs any harm the removed board members may face,” according to the court.
A U.S. attorney orders USIP to vacate its headquarters and grants control of the site to GSA. O’Brien instructs the security team to hand over keys to the building to GSA and resigns from USIP. Cavanaugh is re-instated as president and CEO of USIP.
29 June 2025
USIP’s board files a petition for the entire appellate court to overrule the panel and vacate its stay.
2 July 2025
The appellate court orders the government to respond to USIP’s petition by 11 July 2025.
11 July 2025
The government responds to USIP's petition. Cavanaugh fires most of the remaninig USIP staff.
Editor’s Note: The legal battle between USIP and the Trump administration is ongoing. Security Management will continue to update this timeline as more developments are confirmed.
Megan Gates is senior editor of Security Management. Connect with her at [email protected] or on LinkedIn.
