“I’m former, as of 24 hours ago,” USIP’s former spokesperson told WUSA9. “You can’t be a spokesperson because there is no entity.”
WASHINGTON — In a weekend email from the Department of Government Efficiency, all United States Institute of Peace employees learned that they had been or will be fired, in what a former spokesperson called a repeat of past attacks on the institute.
Liz Callihan is that former spokesperson, she said that all but roughly 200 staff had been let go Saturday, with some employees remaining to “close-out activities and wind down.”
“These actions reflect a cruel indifference toward USIP’s dedicated workforce,” Callihan told WUSA9. “Beyond the harm to these committed professionals, such reckless actions will immediately end the important training, education, facilitation and research work that USIP does around the world.”
Established in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, USIP was founded to promote international conflict resolution and peace. But after years of funding by the federal government, in February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling to get rid of the entity “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
Callihan was among those fired and now describes herself as, “a spokesperson for the recently fired staff of USIP.”
“I’m former, as of 24 hours ago,” Callihan told WUSA9 about her role at USIP. “You can’t be a spokesperson because there is no entity.”
Saturday’s purge of the more than 40-year-old institute by DOGE comes two weeks after a federal appeals court stayed a federal judge ruling that had blocked a Trump administration takeover of USIP.
The original federal court ruling from May responded to attempts by Trump and DOGE in March to fire 10 of USIP’s board members and install a DOGE employee as an acting president of the institute.
The March takeover attempt led to repeated attempts by DOGE to enter the institute’s Foggy Bottom headquarters and the firing of CEO George Moose, a former U.S. ambassador.
Callihan called Saturday’s email a repeat of the attempted DOGE takeover from March — only now, with a federal appeals court ruling in the Trump administration’s favor.
“DOGE is renewing its mistreatment of USIP and its systematic dismantling of an institution authorized by Congress to promote peacebuilding efforts around the world,” Callihan said.