DOGE employees, with the aid of a master key and DC Metropolitan Police Department officers, finally gained control of the massive office building in Foggy Bottom on Monday, ending a standoff by US Institute of Peace bureaucrats barricaded in their offices. On Monday evening, DOGE employees accompanied by MPD officers and high-ranking administration officials stormed the building using a master key provided by the building security service, precipitating a brief scuffle before the building was liberated.

The incident began on February 19, when President Trump signed an executive order firing the head of the USIP, replacing him with a State Department official, and ordering the agency wound down to its “statutory minimum.” The chairman of USIP's board, George Moose, determined that President Trump did not have the authority to take over the agency. Friday evening, DOGE staffers arrived and were denied entry to the building.

The opening salvo of the executive branch-USIP clash came Friday night when Jackson, the newly appointed USIP president, arrived at headquarters with DOGE staffers and FBI agents to enforce Trump’s leadership changes, the official said. A USIP lawyer, apparently recognizing a few faces from the flyer, carped that the order was unlawful and invalid, prompting the Trump officials to withdraw for the night. Over the weekend, Moose and other USIP leaders intensified their resistance plot by holding an emergency meeting, firing the institute’s security contractors (a company called Inter-Con) to block DOGE access — a move the administration official said was illegal — and implementing lockdown measures, including removing the electronic access systems Inter-Con employees used to enter as well as destroying physical locks entirely, the official told the DCNF. Inter-Con declined to comment.

DOGE staffers returned Monday and found organized resistance to entry.

Contrary to earlier reporting by The Washington Post and The New York Times, which claimed the institute merely locked its doors, photographic evidence exclusively obtained by the DCNF shows locks had been physically removed from the exterior doors, effectively destroying entry mechanisms. The official said USIP staff removed the locks.

Moreover, staff contacted Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in an attempt to prevent DOGE personnel from entering, citing barricaded doors and security concerns. MPD officers later confirmed these obstructions upon arrival, further discrediting claims that USIP had only engaged in passive resistance. Much of USIP’s leadership, including Moose, barricaded themselves on the building’s fifth floor, closing window shades and blocking access points in a last-ditch effort to resist DOGE’s entry, the official told the DCNF.

The obstruction didn’t end at damaged doors. Prior to Monday’s confrontation, USIP leaders disabled telephone lines, internet connections and other IT infrastructure, forcing communication among staff through walkie-talkies, according to the official. This deliberate effort to disrupt operations delayed DOGE’s entry and added to the confusion during Monday’s standoff.

Using a master key provided by the security contractor, Trump's team, accompanied by MPD officers, bypassed the damaged and barricaded entryway and "entered the facility through emergency stairs." Confronted with determined leadership and overwhelming force, resistance crumbled, and the insurrectionists exited the building. 

Mr. Moose denied lawful access to Kenneth Jackson, the Acting USIP President (as approved by the USIP Board). @DCPoliceDept arrived onsite and escorted Mr. Jackson into the building. The only unlawful individual was Mr. Moose, who refused to comply, and even tried to fire USIP’s… https://t.co/Fy8hJClx9E pic.twitter.com/yqq81qNKXM

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) March 18, 2025

“President Trump signed an executive order to reduce USIP to its statutory minimum. After noncompliance, 11 board members were lawfully removed, and remaining board members appointed Kenneth Jackson acting president,” said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly in a statement. “Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage. The Trump administration will enforce the President’s executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people.”

USIP bureaucrats filed a lawsuit to regain control of the building. However, by some miracle, the judge turned them away even though she was "very offended by how DOGE has operated at the institute.” Apparently, the irony of her sentencing J6 defendants to prison for walking through the Capitol and taking offense at the government evicting trespassers from a facility was lost on her.

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