The Trump administration gutted the Institute of Peace of ‘rogue bureaucrats’ who held a tense standoff with a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team Monday that required police intervention, according to the White House. 

‘Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage,’ White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital Tuesday. ‘The Trump administration will enforce the president’s executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people.’

The Institute of Peace is an independent, national institution funded by Congress that was established in 1984 under the Reagan administration to promote peace and diplomacy on the international stage. 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February regarding reducing the ‘scope of federal bureaucracy,’ which included specifically targeting the size of the Institute of Peace, as well as other government programs, such as the U.S. African Development Foundation and the Inter-American Foundation. That executive order followed one on Jan. 20 that established DOGE and directed agency leaders to establish their own DOGE teams within their respective agencies as part of the administration’s work to slim down the federal government. 

The Institute of Peace, however, did not comply with the February executive order to reduce its size to the statutory minimum, leading to the Trump administration to fire 11 of its 14 board members last week, Fox Digital learned. 

‘President Trump signed an executive order to reduce USIP to its statutory minimum,’ Kelly said. ‘After noncompliance, 11 board members were lawfully removed, and remaining board members appointed Kenneth Jackson acting president.’

The remaining board members include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Defense University President Peter Garvin, who on Friday fired acting president and CEO of the institute, George Moose. 

Moose is a Clinton-era diplomat who served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The board replaced Moose with Kenneth Jackson, a State Department official, as acting president. 

Jackson attempted to enter the Institute of Peace’s building in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, but was denied access by employees of the institute, an administration official told Fox News Digital. 

The standoff hit a fever pitch Monday when Jackson and the DOGE team attempted again to gain entry to the building, while Moose, who already had been fired, accused them of breaking into the building and vowed to file a lawsuit. An administration official told Fox Digital that Moose ‘basically barricaded himself’ in his former office after he was fired. 

‘Our statute is very clear about the status of this building and this institute,’ Moose told reporters Monday, according to the New York Times. ‘So what has happened here today is an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit corporation.’

Jackson and the DOGE team held conversations with local police Monday, Fox Digital learned, as they worked to gain entry to the building. The Metropolitan Police Department reported that they received a call from the United States Attorney’s Office at about 4 p.m. that day regarding an ongoing incident at the institute, and reported to the scene. 

‘MPD members met with the acting USIP President, and he provided the MPD members with documentation that he was the acting USIP President, with all powers delegated by the USIP Board of Directors to that role,’ the police department said in a news release of Monday’s incident. ‘The acting USIP President advised MPD members that there were unauthorized individuals inside of the building that were refusing to leave and refusing to provide him access to the facility.’ 

‘MPD members went to the USIP building and contacted an individual who allowed MPD members inside of the building,’ the release stated. ‘Once inside of the building, the acting USIP President requested that all the unauthorized individuals inside of the building leave.’ 

Jackson was able to enter the building upon police intervention. Moose left the building without incident and no arrests were made, police said. 

‘Mr. Moose denied lawful access to Kenneth Jackson, the Acting USIP President (as approved by the USIP Board) @DCPoliceDept arrived onsite and escorted Mr. Jackson into the building. 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’s X account said of the incident Monday. 

An administration official told Fox Digital that the incident is a prime example of ‘rogue bureaucrats who have been (in government) for years and decades, who want to basically continue to dole out tax dollars unilaterally, with no oversight.’

The Institute of Peace filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Tuesday in the D.C. District Court, calling for ‘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.’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Wednesday’s news conference that staffers physically barricaded themselves in the building. 

‘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,’ she said. 

‘They barricaded the doors. They also disabled telephone lines, internet connections and other IT infrastructure within the building. They distributed fliers internally, encouraging each other to basically prevent these individuals from accessing the building,’ Leavitt 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.’ 

The standoff follows other ‘rogue bureaucrats’ at the U.S. African Development Foundation who barred another DOGE team and the acting head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Peter Marocco from gaining entry to that building March 12. 

The DOGE team returned to USADF the next day accompanied by U.S. Marshals after the Department of Justice determined that they had a right to enter the building, a White House official told Fox News Digital at the time. USADF is an independent government agency established in 1980 by Congress to support ‘African-owned and African-led enterprises,’ according to its website. 

USADF President Ward Brehm, who was fired by the administration last week, subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, asking a district court to bar the administration from removing him from his position. A federal judge denied Brehm’s request. Marocco was named as acting chairman of USADF’s board. 

Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady contributed to this report. 

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., was gifted a silver-plated beeper during a visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the lawmaker praised Israel’s covert operation in which it detonated pagers last year worn by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. 

Fetterman repeatedly has voiced support for Israel while breaking with the Democratic Party, which has been critical of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, and has demanded that Hamas return all the hostages the terror group took on Oct. 7, 2023. 

He was visiting Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem this week when he reiterated his support for the Jewish state. 

‘Hamas does not want peace. I unapologetically, 100% stand with Israel, and demand the release of all remaining hostages,’ he wrote Tuesday on X. ‘Sending this from Israel.’

During an exchange of gifts, Fetterman gave Netanyahu a framed news article about an effort to memorialize Netanyahu’s brother, the fallen Israeli soldier Yoni Netanyahu, in Philadelphia, where Netanyahu lived as a teenager, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.

The fallen prime minister’s brother is considered a hero in Israel after he was killed in the 1976 Israeli raid in Entebbe, Uganda during the rescue of 102 hostages taken by German and Palestinian terrorists in a plane hijacking.

Netanyahu then reciprocated with his gift.

‘What can I give a man who has everything? How about giving him a beeper?’ Netanyahu said. ‘This is a silver-plated beeper. The real beeper is, like, one-tenth the weight. It’s nothing, but it changes history.’

The beeper references Israel’s September 2024 operation in which it detonated pagers used by members of Hezbollah in Lebanon, killings dozens of people. 

‘When that story broke, I was like, ‘Oh, I love it, I love it.’ And now, it’s like, thank you for this,’ Fetterman responded. 

The operation came before Israel killed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, and weeks ahead of an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon. That conflict ended in a ceasefire in late November.

In February, Netanyahu also gifted a gold-plated pager to President Donald Trump. 

A federal judge ruled in favor of the Trump administration on Wednesday, after a government-funded nonprofit organization filed a lawsuit protecting itself from ‘ongoing destruction’ from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The U.S. Institute for Peace (USIP) filed a request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Tuesday, claiming that DOGE had committed ‘literal trespass and takeover by force…of the Institute’s headquarters building on Constitution Avenue.’

The organization also accused the anti-waste initiative of ‘ongoing destruction of the Institute’s physical and electronic property.’

‘Defendants have been and are at this minute engaged in conduct that will cause the Institute irreparable harm that will prevent the Institute from performing any of its lawful functions and is likely to utterly destroy it,’ the lawsuit stated.

In a decision on Wednesday, Judge Beryl Howell motioned to deny the USIP’s request for a TRO.

‘I think there is confusion in the complaint that make me uncomfortable,’ Howell said.

‘I would say I am very offended by how DOGE has operated in the Institute in treating American citizens…. but that concern about how this has gone down is not one that can sway me in the consideration of factors for TRO, which is emergency relief, which is exceptional,’ she continued.

Howell, who was appointed as a senior judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2024, also said she was ‘particularly concerned about plaintiffs’ likelihood of success.’

‘Two of the most important tests, likely to succeed on the merits and likely to suffer irreparable harm, are just a stretch here,’ Howell added. 

USIP, an independent institution funded by Congress, was established in 1984 under the Reagan administration. Its goal is to ‘[protect] U.S. interests by helping to prevent violent conflicts and broker peace deals abroad,’ according to its website.

‘Our work helps keep America safe, reducing the risk that the United States will be drawn into costly foreign wars that drive terrorism, criminal gangs and migration,’ the agency’s website reads. ‘We help make America stronger by projecting U.S. influence and bolstering partner countries in regions destabilized by China and other U.S. adversaries.’

USIP had infamously not complied with President Donald Trump’s February executive order to pull back the ‘scope of federal bureaucracy,’ refusing to reduce its size to the statutory minimum listed in the order.

As such, the Trump administration fired 11 of its 14 board members last week, leaving only Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Defense University President Peter Garvin.

Howell’s decision came shortly after the White House told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration had gutted USIP of ‘rogue bureaucrats.’ 

‘Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage,’ White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a Tuesday statement. ‘The Trump administration will enforce the president’s executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people.’

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

The judicial branch has been behaving ‘erroneously,’ according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, after several judges have blocked various executive orders from President Donald Trump.

‘I would like to point out that the judges in this country are acting erroneously,’ Leavitt said in a Wednesday news briefing. ‘We have judges who are acting as partisan activists from the bench.’

On Saturday, Judge James Boasberg of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order halting the Trump administration from deporting migrants allegedly part of the Tren de Aragua gang under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The law permits deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing.

However, flights carrying the migrants continued to El Salvador, and Leavitt said Sunday the order had ‘no lawful basis’ since Boasberg issued it after the flights departed from U.S. airspace.

Meanwhile, Trump called for Boasberg’s impeachment in a social media post Tuesday, prompting Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a rare statement condemning Trump’s remarks. 

Specifically, Roberts said that ‘it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision’ for more than two centuries. 

In response, Leavitt said Wednesday that the Supreme Court needs to ‘rein in’ judges who are behaving as ‘partisan activists’ and are ‘undermining’ the judicial branch, while also asserting that Trump does respect Roberts. 

Efforts to oust Boasberg also have been launched in Congress. For example, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, unveiled an impeachment resolution against Boasberg on Tuesday, claiming that Boasberg was ‘guilty of high crimes’ in a post on social media. 

‘It’s incredibly apparent that there is a concerted effort by the far left to judge shop, to pick judges who are clearly acting as partisan activists from the bench in an attempt to derail this president’s agenda,’ Leavitt said. ‘We will not allow that to happen.’ 

Leavitt said that while flights to deport illegal immigrants to El Salvador are currently not scheduled, the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign will continue as litigation continues on this case. 

‘We don’t have any flights planned specifically, but we will continue with the mass deportations,’ Leavitt said. ‘And I would just like to point out that the judge in this case is essentially trying to say that the President doesn’t have the executive authority to deport foreign terrorists…That is an egregious abuse of the bench.’ 

Boasberg has requested the Trump administration provide more details regarding the timing of the flights departing U.S. soil, when they left U.S. airspace, and when they landed in El Salvador, among other things. The Trump administration has until Thursday to respond. 

Trump has signed more than 90 executive orders since returning to the White House in January, spurring more than 125 lawsuits against his administration. Additionally, the odds of impeaching a judge are slim, as it would require 67 senators to vote for a conviction. Currently, Republicans only have a majority of 53 lawmakers in the upper chamber. 

Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham in an interview Tuesday that he has never defied a court order — and wouldn’t — but that the judicial system is full of ‘crooked’ judges. 

‘No, you can’t do that,’ Trump said about defying court orders. ‘However, we have bad judges. We have very bad judges. These are judges that shouldn’t be allowed. I think at a certain point, you have to look at what do you do when you have a rogue judge.’

Other recent legal losses for the Trump administration include U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes blocking Trump’s executive order to bar transgender individuals from serving in the military.

Reyes wrote in her 79-page opinion released Tuesday that the ban ‘is soaked in animus.’ The injunction takes effect on Friday, providing a window for the Trump administration to appeal the order. 

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report. 

The NASA astronauts who were stranded at the International Space Station were stuck in space for so long because the Biden administration lacked ‘urgency’ in securing their return to Earth, according to the White House press secretary.

Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Suni Williams launched from their Boeing Starliner spacecraft in June 2024 for a mission set to last only eight days. But when the spacecraft encountered technical issues, NASA decided it was unsafe for it to arrive back on Earth with the astronauts on board.

As a result, Wilmore and Williams remained stranded at the International Space Station — until Tuesday when they parachuted down to Earth, off the coast of Florida. 

‘These two incredible astronauts were only supposed to be up there for eight days, but because of the Biden administration’s lack of urgency, they ended up spending nine months in space,’ press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday at the White House. ‘Joe Biden’s lack of courage to act boldly and decisively was a big reason why Butch and Suni did not make it back until yesterday. But President Trump doesn’t waste time.’

A spokesperson for Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Leavitt said that after taking office in January, Trump directed SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk to hash out a plan to rescue the astronauts with NASA. Wilmore and Williams returned to Earth on a SpaceX Dragon capsule. 

Musk issued his congratulations to the SpaceX team and NASA for successfully pulling off the rescue, and also thanked Trump for prioritizing the mission.

‘Thanks to the excellent work of the SpaceX team working with NASA, the astronauts are now safely home,’ Musk said Tuesday during an exclusive interview on ‘Hannity.’ ‘And so congratulations to the SpaceX NASA teams on excellent work.’  

Musk, who is also heading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), previously said in an interview with Hannity in February that he had offered to work with the Biden administration to return the astronauts, but that his offer was rejected for ‘political reasons.’ 

Wilmore said in an interview in March that he trusted Musk’s assessment of the situation, although he said he did not know the nature of the private discussions. 

‘I can only say that Mr. Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual… I believe him,’ Wilmore said March 4 during an in-orbit press conference, according to the New York Post.

Still, Wilmore said he wasn’t involved in the discussions, and so he couldn’t personally verify what the conversations entailed. 

‘We have no information on that, though, whatsoever,’ Wilmore said. ‘What was offered, what was not offered, who it was offered to, how that process went. That’s information that we simply don’t have.’