Lawsuit says DOGE put a 28-year-old in charge of USIP, an organization that promotes international peacebuilding and conflict resolution

• The USIP is now headed by a 28-year-old, per a federal court filing.
• DOGE named Nate Cavanaugh, a tech entrepreneur and college dropout, as the USIP's acting president.
• Lawyers for the USIP said nearly all of the institute's staff in the US have been fired.

Elon Musk's cost-cutting outfit, the Department of Government Efficiency, has installed a 28-year-old as the acting president of the US Institute of Peace, per a federal court filing on Monday.

Lawyers for the USIP wrote in the filing that the White House DOGE office "fired all or nearly all of the Institute's staff employed at its headquarters building" as of Friday.

The filing said State Secretary Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a resolution to appoint Nate Cavanaugh, 28, as the acting president of the USIP in late March. Rubio and Hegseth are both board members of the USIP.

Cavanaugh, a tech entrepreneur and college dropout, is replacing Kenneth Jackson, a former State Department official DOGE installed as acting president just weeks ago.

The resolution also directs Cavanaugh to transfer the USIP's assets and property to the General Services Administration, the filing said.

"If Defendant Cavanaugh executes the transfer of the Institute's assets as directed in the Resolution, that transfer will present a serious risk of gravely impairing this Court's jurisdiction to remedy the Defendant's unlawful seizure of control over the Institute," the USIP's lawyers argued in the filing, calling for the court to suspend the transfers.

Lawyers representing the USIP and Cavanaugh did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

USIP versus DOGE

USIP was founded in 1984. The independent think tank aims to prevent and resolve violent conflicts through its research, analysis, and training programs, as described in a publicly available index of government organizations.

But USIP, like other organizations, has come under DOGE scrutiny. This was after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February, ordering that steps be taken to "dramatically reduce the size of the Federal Government."

The USIP was one of the agencies listed in Trump's order that would have its operations and staff reduced "to the minimum presence and function required by law."

On March 17, the institute's then-acting president, George Moose, denied DOGE access when they tried to enter the building again.

Jackson, who was present with DOGE staff, gained entry to the building after the police arrived.

"The only unlawful individual was Mr. Moose, who refused to comply, and even tried to fire USIP's private security team when said security team went to give access to Mr. Jackson," DOGE wrote in an X post on March 17.

Since taking office in January, Trump's administration has moved quickly to cull federal spending. Musk and DOGE have laid off thousands of federal workers and shuttered foreign aid programs, sparking fear and chaos across government.

Trump said at a cabinet meeting on March 24 that his administration would be "pretty much satisfied" with DOGE's cuts over the next two or three months.

Trump added that he only wanted to retain federal workers who are "hardworking and want to be members of the administration and our country."

"We want to keep the good ones, and we want to get rid of the ones that don't exist, and we want to get rid of the ones that do exist but don't work, and we have quite a few of them," Trump said.

Musk, DOGE, Cavanaugh, the State Department, and the Defense Department did not respond to requests for comment from BI.