Swift eviction In a whirlwind first move, 28-year-old Nate Cavanaugh, new head of the U.S. Institute of Peace <https://t.devex.com/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZlSXdbeZUW9-aPY6G3S1VWQOWuAGY55ShHZMSMTWrKPc0iLlcalkW10oPimkrQt613rctUpY=>, is *shutting down its $500 million D.C. headquarters*. “I have determined that USIP no longer needs the property,” he wrote to the agency that runs the building — *right after firing nearly all 300 staffers* and giving them until April 7 to pack up.
“The analogy of a bull in a China shop comes to mind,” says Judge Beryl Howell, as the government confirmed the building’s been handed off to the Department of Labor. Why? Brian Hudak, the government’s lawyer, wasn’t sure. Cavanaugh argued the building costs too much <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POqvSHLdbm6cIFmRn3o_wAi-UKhAqMgkCDjnhaazjmWuQFdNXPSbBx5jXtkyxWpSBvBVcwJ616dINztWUNGTWxYEZkYmHaU1Ezk7f2XG72TOyblk-IQc5sknClZTT4izk4Zu8BtnuH85DPrGThCmOkkbjEObt2Ub605SGPgniQdHX-WwortaxSFxKrIXSwkKcYSfrGpN3EMeEmXciXUxW_DPw7INpBrYtmAbcpspEdqFFzTAQonIBylR9qr_cqArvTQ==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZlSXdbZ_fJ8zSU4j4Bf3KZwmk-LyQZiRIaoOZNsFHTld9Z610o83PlRmFJJHPff1qCq3OF2o=>, USIP had “strayed far from its original mandate,” and Trump wanted it scaled back. By the time USIP tried to stop the handover, it was basically done. GSA had already claimed the building, the desks, the laptops — possibly even the $80 million endowment. *No one seems to know why Cavanaugh* — a tech entrepreneur with no peacebuilding background — *got the top job*. Even the government’s lawyer just says he was “a successful entrepreneur.” The previous leadership? Swept out by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and President of the National Defense University Peter Garvin. Cavanaugh was then installed as USIP president after a game of musical chairs, Elissa writes. Now, a court ruling is pending — and Musk has weighed in, posting on his social media platform X: “Any government institution is most likely to be the opposite of its name.” Also, *USIP’s website? Gone.* So a claim, reposted by Musk, that the USIP funneled $132,000 to a former Taliban member and $1.3 million to an Iraqi youth group *cannot be verified as the USIP website has been taken down*. *Read:* US Institute of Peace headquarters transferred to Labor Department <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POqvSHLdbm6cIFmRn3o_wAi-UKhAqMgkCDjnhaazjmWuQFdNXPSbBx5jXtkyxWpSBvBVcwJ616dINztWUNGTWxYEZkYmHaU1Ezk7f2XG72TOyblk-IQc5sknClZTT4izk4Zu8BtnuH85DPrGThCmOkkbjEObt2Ub605SGPgniQdHX-WwortaxSFxKrIXSwkKcYSfrGpN3EMeEmXciXUxW_DPw7INpBrYtmAbcpspEdqFFV7Ybt90fBp1yp0o2M79_Hw==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZlSXdbZ_fJ8zSU4j4Bf3KZwmk-LyQZiRIaoOZNsFHTld9Z610o83PlRmFJJHPff1qCq3OF2o=>
