A simmering dispute between the Department of Government Efficiency and an independent agency dedicated to promoting peace broke into an open standoff involving police earlier this week, as Elon Musk’s government cutters marched into the agency’s headquarters and evicted its officials.
The dramatic scene played out in Washington on Monday afternoon as Musk’s team was rebuffed from the U.S. Institute of Peace, an agency that U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered dismantled, then entered it with law enforcement officers. Agency officials say that because the institute is a congressionally chartered nonprofit that is not part of the executive branch, Trump and Musk do not have the authority to gut its operations.
"DOGE just came into the building — they’re inside the building — they’re bringing the FBI and brought a bunch of D.C. police,” Sophia Lin, a lawyer for the institute, said by telephone as she and other officials were being escorted out.
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