The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has overturned a lower court ruling that had prevented the Trump administration from restructuring the leadership at the Institute of Peace (USIP), according to a June 27 order.
The issue stems from a Feb. 19 executive order from President Donald Trump declaring USIP “unnecessary” and calling for its activities to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
USIP was set up by Congress as an independent nonprofit corporation, received federal and private funding, and was tasked with promoting peace via diplomacy and education. USIP’s board of directors is made up of 15 members, three of whom are “ex officio”—they hold their seats due to their positions in the federal government. The remaining 12 are appointed members of the board, designated by the president, and confirmed by the Senate.
On March 14, Trent Morse of the White House Presidential Personnel Office terminated all appointed members. The same day, the three ex officio members signed a resolution removing the board’s president.
On March 17, the Department of Government Efficiency took over USIP headquarters. The administration eventually fired most of the USIP staff and canceled all of its programs. Later, the General Services Administration took control of USIP headquarters.
The next day, USIP and several of its terminated board members sued the government over the firings.
On May 19, District Judge Beryl Howell blocked the federal administration from restructuring USIP, replacing the organization’s leadership, and assuming control of the agency’s office building.
Later that week, Howell rejected the administration’s request for a stay, upholding her decision. The matter then went to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
However, on June 27, the appeals court sided with the administration, lifting the district court judge’s blockade.
Plaintiffs in the case had argued their terminations were unlawful and that all federal government actions taken after their removal were invalid, according to the appeals court order.
Plaintiffs argued that USIP was a fully independent entity and not part of the government, or at least the executive branch, and that board members can only be removed by the president under limited circumstances, such as for felony or malfeasance in office.
The federal government argued that USIP was a part of the executive branch as it carried out diplomatic functions, thus entitling the president to fire its board members.
The appeals court ruled the president has the authority to remove executive officers “at will.” And since USIP exercises “substantial executive power,” the government is likely to succeed on its claims that protecting the board against removal by the president is unconstitutional, it said.
USIP has engaged in “extensive activities within the domain of the President’s foreign affairs powers,” the appeals court said.
For instance, USIP has taken part in peace deals involving Israel and the Palestinians and fielded requests from the Philippine government to facilitate a cease-fire with a rebel group, according to the court. The institute also “shapes foreign affairs in the interest of the United States through the exercise of soft power,” it said.
“The President’s inability to control the Institute’s exercise of these ‘significant executive power[s]’ undermines his ability to set and pursue his foreign policy objectives,” the court said, adding that the president is the “sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations.”
“The President faces irreparable harm from not being able to fully exercise his executive powers,” the appeals court ruled. “That harm outweighs any harm the removed board members may face.”
Courts Backing Trump
In its order, the appeals court cited a ruling made by the U.S. Supreme Court last month in a similar case.
In the case, a district court had blocked the Trump administration from removing a member of the National Labor Relations Board and another member from the Merit Systems Protection Board, according to the May 22 ruling from the Supreme Court.
The plaintiffs said the president was “prohibited by statute from removing these officers except for cause, and no qualifying cause was given,” it said.
However, the Supreme Court lifted the district court blockade, writing that “because the Constitution vests the executive power in the President, he may remove without cause executive officers who exercise that power on his behalf.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration secured a critical legal victory on Friday after the Supreme Court issued a ruling restricting federal judges from imposing nationwide injunctions against the federal government’s executive policies.
Trump praised the decision in comments during a press conference at the White House.
“This morning, the Supreme Court has delivered a monumental victory for the Constitution, separation of powers, and the rule of law,” he said.
