Judge Rules Removal of U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) Directors Was Illegal [UPDATED to Link to Full Opinion]

UPDATE 5/20/25 11:53 am: An excerpt from the full, 102-page opinion:

As an independent entity exercising inconsequential government power and de minimis, if any, executive power, Congress’s ability to restrict the President’s removal power is even greater than that outlined in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, 295 U.S. 602 (1935), Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 591 U.S. 197 (2020), and the Supreme Court’s other seminal presidential removal power cases. Applying those cases, Congress’s restrictions on the President’s removal power of USIP Board members are squarely constitutional, and the President and his Administration’s acts to the contrary are unlawful and ultra vires. The actions that have occurred since then—at the direction of the President to reduce USIP to its “statutory minimums”—including the removal of USIP’s president, his replacement by officials affiliated with DOGE, the termination of nearly all of USIP’s staff, and the transfer of USIP property to the General Services Administration (“GSA”), were thus effectuated by illegitimately-installed leaders who lacked legal authority to take these actions, which must therefore be declared null and void.

ORIGINAL POST 5/19/25: Judge Beryl Howell’s decision today [5/19/25] in United States Institute of Peace v. Jackson declares (see NBC News [Ryan J. Reilly] for more on the matter):

[T]he purported removal of members of the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace (“USIP”) duly appointed under 22 U.S.C. § 4605(b)(4), was unlawful, in violation of 22 U.S.C. § 4605(f), ultra vires, and therefore null, void, and without legal effect ….

[P]laintiff Board members who were purportedly terminated remain members of the USIP Board and may be removed by the United States President only pursuant to the terms of 22 U.S.C. § 4605(f) ….

[T]he purported removal of Ambassador George Moose as acting president of the Institute by a resolution adopted by less than a majority of the duly appointed Board of Directors of USIP was invalid, and therefore null, void, and without legal effect ….

[T]he purported appointments of Kenneth Jackson and Nate Cavanaugh to the positions of president of USIP pursuant to resolutions adopted by less than a majority of the duly appointed Board of Directors of USIP were invalid and therefore null, void, and without legal effect ….

Amb. Moose therefore remains president of USIP and may be removed only by a duly constituted Board of Directors, under 22 U.S.C. § 4606 ….

[A]ll actions taken or authorized by Kenneth Jackson or Nate Cavanaugh as acting presidents of USIP were invalid and therefore null, void, and without legal effect ….

[G]iven the illegitimate appointment of Nate Cavanaugh to the position as USIP president, the actions and documents by which he purportedly transferred USIP’s headquarters, located at 2301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20037, to the General Services Administration were invalid and therefore null, void, and without legal effect ….

[T]the transfer of USIP’s other financial or physical assets to the General Services Administration was likewise invalid, null void, and without legal effect ….

[T]he resolution adopted by two ex officio Directors of USIP’s Board purportedly appointing Adam Amar as president of the Endowment of the USIP Fund and authorizing and instructing him to transfer any and all of the Endowment’s assets to USIP was invalid, null, void, and without any legal effect ….

The court also orders that:

plaintiff Board members duly appointed under 22 U.S.C. § 2605(b)(4) shall continue to serve in accordance with § 4605(e) and may not be removed or treated in any way as having been removed, or otherwise obstructed from carrying out their duties, except in accordance with § 4605(f); …

USIP Acting President Amb. Moose shall continue to serve in accordance with § 4606(a) and may not be removed or treated in any way as having been removed, or otherwise obstructed from carrying out his duties, except in accordance with §§ 4601-11; …

[D]efendants, except for the ex officio members of USIP’s Board of Directors to the extent their official positions allow, are ENJOINED from further trespass against the real and personal property belonging to the Institute and its employees, contractors, agents, and other representatives; …

[D]efendants, except for the ex officio members of USIP’s Board of Directors to the extent their official positions allow, are ENJOINED from maintaining, retaining, gaining, or exercising any access or control over the Institute’s offices, facilities, computer systems, or any other records, files, or resources, and from acting or purporting to act in the name of Institute, and from using the Institute’s name, emblem, badge, seal and any other mark of recognition of the Institute; …

[D]efendants who are ex officio members of USIP’s Board of Directors may not act unilaterally or in any combination of the three of them together, without additional consent constituting a majority of members of the duly constituted USIP Board of Directors, to transfer any of USIP’s assets ….

I don’t know enough about the dispute to opine it, but I thought the news was worth passing along.

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