White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized George Moose, the former head of the U.S. Institute of Peace, and fellow agency employees for resisting the Department of Government Efficiency‘s attempts to slash the agency.
On Monday, Moose was physically escorted out of the agency’s building by law enforcement officers after a standoff with DOGE employees. A report by the Daily Caller, citing a source from within the Trump administration, alleged that the agency removed locks from exterior doors and disabled internet connections as part of an obstruction effort.
Leavitt does appear to be explicitly referencing this report, as well as the Daily Wire’s similar story, during her press conference on Wednesday.
“We were made aware of this story by individuals at DOGE at Elon Musk‘s team and also at the State Department who were unable to access this building,” Leavitt said when asked by a reporter during the White House press briefing.
“And it became very clear that there was a concerted effort amongst the rogue bureaucrats at the United States Institute of Peace to actually physically barricade themselves essentially inside of the building to prevent political appointees of this administration who work at the direction of the president of the United States to get into the building,” Leavitt continued.
Fired members of the institute’s board sued the Trump administration this week, claiming they were unlawfully terminated.
Five of the ousted board members are seeking “the immediate intervention of this Court to stop Defendants from completing the unlawful dismantling of the Institute and irreparably impairing Plaintiffs’ ability to perform their vital peace promotion and conflict resolution work as tasked by Congress,” according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday.
USIP was established by congressional action in 1984 and has long worked to end conflicts worldwide.
Leavitt, however, dismissed their complaints as unlawful “resistance” from government bureaucrats.
MPD CALLED TO DEESCALATE USIP DISPUTE AFTER FORMER PRESIDENT ACCUSED DOGE OF BREAKING IN
“Staff contacted the MPD in an attempt to prevent DOGE personnel from entering,” Leavitt said. “They barricaded the doors. They also disabled telephone lines, internet connections, and other IT infrastructure within the building. They distributed flyers internally encouraging each other to basically prevent these individuals from accessing the building.”
“This is what DOGE and this administration is facing,” she continued. “It’s a resistance from bureaucrats who don’t want to see change in this city. President Trump was elected on an overwhelming mandate to seek change and implement change, and this is unacceptable behavior.”
