Most employees at the US Institute of Peace, a congressionally created and funded think tank now taken over by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, have received email notices of their mass firing, the AP reports. The emails, sent to personal accounts because most staff members had lost access to the organization's system, began going out about 9pm Friday, sources said. One former senior official at the institute said among those spared were several in the human resources department and a handful of overseas staffers who have until April 9 to return to the United States. The organization has about 300 people. Others retained for now are regional vice presidents who will be working with the staff in their areas to return to the US, an employee says.
An executive order last month from President Trump targeted the organization, which seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, and three other agencies for closure. Board members, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, and the institute's president were fired. Later, there was a standoff between employees who blocked DOGE members from entering the institute's headquarters near the State Department. DOGE staff gained access in part with the help of the Washington police. A lawsuit ensued, and US District Judge Beryl Howell chastised DOGE representatives for their behavior but did not reinstate the board members or allow employees to return to the workspace.
Also Friday, a federal appeals court on Friday lifted an order blocking Musk's DOGE from further cuts at the US Agency for International Development—and even before the ruling, the Trump administration took some of the last remaining steps in breaking up USAID, the AP reports. Almost all of the 900 staffers who still remained at the agency were terminated Friday, sources tell NPR. That same day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration had formally notified Congress of its plans to cut most USAID programs and move surviving functions under the State Department. The administration's aim is to eliminate the agency's "independent operation" by September, according to the Trump-appointed current head of the agency.
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