US Institute of Peace says Doge has broken into its building

Employees of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) have entered the US Institute of Peace despite protests from the nonprofit that it is not part of the executive branch and is instead an independent agency.

The organisation’s CEO, George Moose, said: “Doge has broken into our building.” Police cars were outside the Washington building on Monday evening.

The Doge workers gained access to the building after several unsuccessful attempts on Monday and after having been turned away on Friday, a senior US Institute of Peace official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

It was not immediately clear what the Doge staff were doing or looking for in the nonprofit’s building, which is across the street from the State Department in the Foggy Bottom neighbourhood.

US President Donald Trump targeted the organisation and a few others in a February 19 executive order that aims to shrink the size of the federal government. The administration has since moved to fire and cancel programs at some of those organisations.

Doge has expressed interest in the US Institute of Peace for weeks but has been rebuffed by lawyers who argued that the institute’s status protected it from the kind of reorganisation that is occurring in other federal agencies.