JUST IN: DOGE Secures Major Legal Victory In Federal Court

A federal judge handed the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency a sizable win on Tuesday, striking down a challenge to the cost-cutting agency’s ability to obtain government property without paying a premium for it.

The weeks-long standoff between DOGE and the U.S. Institute of Peace culminated in a decision by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell to allow Elon Musk’s agency to obtain the IOP’s headquarters for free. Auditors originally sought to enter the liberal outpost last month but were rebuffed at the door.

Howell wrote that the Trump administration’s transfer of the IOP headquarters to the General Services Administration is “no longer merely ‘proposed’ but done,” thereby “rendering plaintiffs’ requested relief moot as to that property.”

Sitting on Constitution Avenue just north of the Lincoln Memorial, the IOP’s sprawling headquarters encompasses more than 150,000 square feet and commands a real estate value of $500 million, according to court filings. The organization’s 10 governing directors were fired by President Donald Trump last month shortly before employees and security personnel barred DOGE staff from entering the headquarters in a dramatic scene.

DOGE staff returned one week later with their own key to the building, according to Wired.

Nate Cavanaugh, a DOGE employee, was the focus of a lawsuit brought by disgruntled former IOP staffers who allege he did not have the authority to transfer ownership of the building over to GSA at no cost to the government.

A letter from Cavanaugh to GSA acting administrator Stephen Ehikian contained in the court docket describes the property transfer as being “in the best interest of USIP, the federal government, and the United States.”

He was supported by Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought, whose own letter in court filings approved the transfer, which “set the amount of reimbursement at no cost” for the facility.

“The transfer of the U.S. Institutes [sic] of Peace (USIP) headquarters facility … is a priority of the Trump-Vance administration,” wrote the GSA’s public buildings commissioner Michael Peters. “The transfer will enable GSA to fulfill other governmental space requirements at the USIP headquarters facility in a cost-effective manner. However, GSA has not had adequate time to budget for the cost of acquiring the USIP headquarters facility at fair market value, nor would such an acquisition be an immediate priority for GSA, given the limited resources available in the Federal Buildings Fund.”

A second frontier in dismantling the IOP will be its $20 million endowment. Judge Howell wrote in her ruling that she did not need to stop the transfer of funds to make a determination on the headquarters’s transfer.

The legal saga between liberal IOP attorneys and the Trump administration is unique because of the way the IOP is run. It is congressionally funded and operates as an independent, non-executive agency.

Lawyers for DOGE argued that it is a “wholly owned government corporation,” while IOP attorneys cited the 1984 United States Institute of Peace Act, which established the agency as “an independent, nonprofit, national institute.”

More is to come, and even the permanence of the building’s transfer could be undone by Howell at a future date. A final ruling on the fate of the IOP’s 10-member board is expected to arrive at the end of April, the outlet reports.

“This issue will be more fully addressed in the expedited summary judgment briefing being prepared by the parties,” Howell said.