Latest news with #KennethJackson
Al Jazeera
6 days ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Ex-DOGE official rushed Trump‑backed GHF grant despite staff warnings
A top US Department of State official waived nine mandatory counterterrorism and anti-fraud safeguards to rush a $30m award last month to a controversial Gaza aid group backed by the Trump administration and Israel, according to an internal memorandum. Jeremy Lewin, a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) associate, signed off on the award despite an assessment in the memorandum that the GHF funding plan failed to meet required 'minimum technical or budgetary standards'. The June 24 action memorandum to Lewin was sent by Kenneth Jackson, also a former DOGE operative who serves as an acting deputy US Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator. The pair has overseen the agency's dismantling and the merger of its functions into the State Department. Lewin also overrode 58 objections that USAID staff experts wanted GHF to resolve in its application before the funds were approved, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Lewin, who runs the State Department's foreign aid programme, cleared the funds only five days after GHF filed its proposal on June 19, according to the June 24 'action memorandum' bearing his signature. 'Strong Admin support for this one,' Lewin wrote to USAID leaders in a June 25 email that urged disbursement of the funds by the agency 'ASAP'. Lewin and Jackson have not issued comments on the matter. The documents underline the priority the Trump administration has given GHF despite the group's lack of experience and the killing of hundreds of Palestinians near its Gaza aid distribution hubs. GHF, which closely coordinates with the Israeli military, has acknowledged reports of violence, but claims they occurred beyond its operations area. Lewin noted in the email that he had discussed the funds with aides to Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's negotiator on Gaza, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio's office. He acknowledged that authorising the funds would be controversial, writing, 'I'm taking the bullet on this one.' 'Inhumane and deadly' The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Witkoff and Rubio did not reply to a question about whether they were aware of and supported the decision to waive the safeguards, according to the Reuters news agency. The State Department said in a statement that the $30m was approved under a legal provision allowing USAID to expedite awards in response to 'emergency situations' to 'meet humanitarian needs as expeditiously as possible'. 'The GHF award remains subject to rigorous oversight, including of GHF's operations and finances,' the statement said. 'As part of the award, GHF was subject to new control and reporting requirements'. In response to a request for comment, a GHF spokesperson said, 'Our model is specifically designed to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. Every dollar we receive is safeguarded to ensure all resources — which will eventually include American taxpayer funds — reach the people of Gaza.' The spokesperson added that such requests for clarification from the US government about fund applications were routine. Speaking about the nine conditions that were waived, the spokesperson said, 'We are addressing each question as per regulations and normal procedure and will continue to do so as required.' Gaza's Health Ministry has said at least 743 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,891 others injured while seeking assistance at GHF aid sites. The GHF, which began operating in the bombarded Palestinian enclave in late May, has drawn widespread criticism amid multiple reports that its contractors, as well as Israeli forces, have opened fire on aid seekers. Leading humanitarian and human rights groups have demanded the immediate closure of the GHF, which they accused of 'forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarised zones where they face daily gunfire and mass casualties'. Amnesty International has described the group's operations as an 'inhumane and deadly militarised scheme', while the UN insists that the model is violating humanitarian principles. Palestinians under bombardment in Gaza, where a famine looms as Israel maintains a crippling blockade, have no choice but to seek aid from the GHF despite the risks involved.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Institute that held office standoff against DOGE on 'right path' following judge's order: admin
The Trump administration said the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is on the "right path" to enforce the president's executive actions after a judge ruled in the administration's favor following the office's standoff with a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team. "The ruling by a U.S. District Court affirms the President's clear authority to appoint and remove board members, ensuring that the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) operates in alignment with executive directives," a Trump administration official told Fox News Digital on Thursday following the order. "This decision reinforces the President's commitment to accountability, transparency, and effective governance." District Judge Beryl Howell on Wednesday denied a request from the USIP to grant a temporary restraining order that claimed DOGE committed "literal trespass and takeover by force … of the Institute's headquarters building on Constitution Avenue." The USIP lawsuit sought "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." Trump Admin Guts Institute Of Peace Of 'Rogue Bureaucrats' After Doge Standoff In Government Office The USIP 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. The institute hit national headlines recently after the Trump administration fired 11 of its 14 board members after the government-funded office failed to comply with a Trump executive order from February requiring it to reduce its size to the statutory minimum. Read On The Fox News App White House Unleashes On 'Rogue Bureaucrats' After Agency Head Refuses Doge Entry To Headquarters "President Trump signed an executive order to reduce USIP to its statutory minimum," White House spokeswoman Anna 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 the acting president and CEO of the institute, George Moose. The Unelected Power Is The Rogue Bureaucracy, Stephen Miller Says 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 and a DOGE team attempted to enter the Institute of Peace's building in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, but were denied access by employees of the institute, an administration official told Fox News Digital. The standoff heightened on Monday, when Jackson and the DOGE team again attempted to gain entry to the building, while Moose accused them of breaking into the building. The Metropolitan Police Department reported it had received a call from the U.S. 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." Trump Orders The Dismantling Of Government-funded, 'Propaganda'-peddling Media Outlet "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. "With Mr. Jackson lawfully appointed as Acting President, USIP is now on the right path to fully comply with the President's February 19th Executive Order and uphold its responsibility to the American people," the administration official told Fox Digital on Thursday. Musk And Doge Have Another Perfect Target: More Taxpayer-funded, Anti-american Media 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." White House Says Federally Funded News Service 'Spends Your Money To Promote Foreign Propaganda' A similar standoff recently occurred between DOGE and the U.S. African Development Foundation when bureaucrats barred the acting head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Peter Marocco, and DOGE members from the building. The foundation is an independent government agency established in 1980 by Congress to support "African-owned and African-led enterprises," according to its website. U.S. African Development Foundation President Ward Brehm, who was fired by the administration earlier this month, 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 acting chairman of the U.S. African Development Foundation's article source: Institute that held office standoff against DOGE on 'right path' following judge's order: admin
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
U.S. Institute of Peace sues to block DOGE 'takeover by force'
WASHINGTON — The United States Institute of Peace (USIP), an independent non-profit established by Congress 40 years ago, is asking a federal judge to immediately block the Department of Government Efficiency's attempted forced shutdown of the organization after what its lawsuit portrayed as a "takeover by force" of their headquarters building that took place with the assistance of the FBI, the Justice Department, and local D.C. police. The lawsuit — which was brought by the Institute of Peace and member of the board and names Assistant to the Administrator for Management and Resources for USAID Kenneth Jackson, DOGE, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump, among others — contends that the Trump administration attempted to unlawfully fire USIP President George Moose after moving to fire board members and replace them with Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Vice Admiral Peter A. Garvin. The suit says that the "attacks culminated in the literal trespass and takeover by force by Defendants, including representatives of DOGE, of the Institute's headquarters building on Constitution Avenue." The government responded in a filing of its own on Wednesday: "The Government believes it has acted in accordance with all laws and that Plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order is unsupportable," the brief reads, citing the legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan that created the Institute for Peace. 'When President Reagan signed the Defense Authorization Act of 1985, which created the Institute, he included a signing statement noting: 'The act establishes the United States Institute of Peace. I have been advised by the Attorney General that section 1706(f), relating to the President's power to remove members of the Board of Directors of the Institute, is neither intended to, nor has the effect of, restricting the President's constitutional power to remove those officers.'" The lawsuit describes a dramatic standoff in which DOGE gained access to the headquarters building with the assistance of an employee for a private security company whose contract was dropped by USIP. 'DOGE has broken into our building," USIP Acting President and CEO George Moose said in a statement during the standoff on Monday. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell swiftly set a hearing for 2 p.m. on Wednesday, after the lawsuit was filed late Tuesday. The defendants are seeking a temporary restraining order, with USIP lawyers writing that defendants 'blatantly violate the plain terms of the USIP Act," which established the non-profit in 1984. They continue: "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." Immediate intervention, attorneys wrote, "is appropriate to stop the ongoing destruction of the Institute's physical and electronic property until the Court can further consider the merits." White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Tuesday that Trump 'signed an executive order to reduce USIP to its statutory minimum' and that '11 board members were lawfully removed' before three board members appointed Jackson acting president of the organization. 'Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage,' Kelly said. 'The Trump administration will enforce the President's executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people.' The lawsuit is part of a growing collection of court actions brought by members of different independent agencies in response to attempted takeovers by the Trump administration. The administration has argued the actions are an attempt to rein in "so-called independent agencies," after Trump signed an executive order an order declaring that under Article II of the U.S. Constitution, all executive branch officials and employees fall under his supervision. On Tuesday, Trump took action to fire two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission, with both saying they plan to challenge their dismissals. The judiciary is playing catch-up as the Trump administration takes aggressive actions to remake the federal government, including moves that could be difficult to reverse once a court makes a final judgement. On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that the DOGE-led attempted shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development 'likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways.' The same day, amid a pending lawsuit over the fate of the U.S. African Development Foundation, employees received notices that they had been placed on administrative leave, according to a document reviewed by NBC News. USIP employs 414 employees and personal services contractors, is present in 26 countries, and has seven field offices. Its main building is owned by an independent nonprofit corporation and was constructed from "private gifts and contributions," according to the suit. USIP outside counsel told members of DOGE on March 9 that "unauthorized personnel would only be admitted with a valid warrant issued by a court," according to the suit. In a declaration, USIP Chief Security Officer Colin O'Brien said that FBI Special Agent Doug Silk called him on Sunday and said O'Brien was subject to an investigation by the Justice Department after DOGE was denied access to the USIP building on Friday. O'Brien then informed USIP President Moose and the USIP outside counsel, according to the declaration. "I was worried when I got home I would be met by FBI agents and questioned," O'Brien wrote. "I called my wife and instructed her to lock the doors at our home." On Monday, the Metropolitan Police Department said they were contacted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia — headed by longtime Trump supporter Ed Martin — and sided with Jackson, describing him in a statement as the "acting USIP President" rather than Moose. O'Brien said that when police arrived at the building around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, that he allowed a police commander and deputy captain into the building, as well as a patrol officer. When another officer arrived, that officer was allowed in but refused to close the door. Other officers came in behind them, along with representatives of DOGE and Jackson. "I was told by DC police officers to stay put and not move. I was physically blocked by a DC police officer from moving about the building," O'Brien wrote. "I asked if I could retrieve my car keys and my car, and they said no." O'Brien's declaration in the lawsuit says that he witnessed Washington police retrieve lock picking equipment. Howell, who during her time as chief judge of the federal district court in Washington, D.C., oversaw the federal grand jury investigation into Trump, was often a thorn in the side of the Trump administration during his first term. She has spoken out about Trump's pardoning of Capitol riot defendants, writing in January that she would not let stand the 'revisionist myth relayed in this presidential pronouncement' of the pardons. This article was originally published on
Axios
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Axios
DOGE staff enter U.S. Institute of Peace building after standoff
DOGE said its staffers and acting U.S. Institute of Peace president Kenneth Jackson entered USIP's D.C. headquarters with a police escort on Monday evening amid an apparent standoff. The big picture: Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) said on Bluesky he was at the building to "conduct congressional oversight" over "DOGE's break in" and said he had spoken to George Moose, who was reportedly fired from his role as acting USIP president. Elon Musk's DOGE staffers had previously been refused entry to the building. A USIP spokesperson Gonzalo Gallegos said in a media statement Saturday the DOGE workers were informed of the nonprofit's "private and independent status as a non-executive branch agency." Driving the news: DOGE said on X Monday evening Moose had "denied lawful access to Kenneth Jackson, the Acting USIP President (as approved by the USIP Board)." Metropolitan Police Department officers "arrived onsite and escorted Jackson into the building," per the post. "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." Police officers "responded to a call for service for Unlawful Entry" and "individuals left the premise without incident and no arrests were made" following their arrival, the MPD said in an emailed statement on Monday night. Representatives for the MPD did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment in the evening on who those individuals were. Zoom out: President Trump signed an executive order last month to eliminate or diminish some federal advisory committees, including USIP. Moose was fired on Friday along with all of the board except for members Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Defense University President Peter Garvin, according to multiple reports. USIP's X account appeared to have been deleted on Monday night. Background: USIP was founded as a nonpartisan, independent organization in 1984 by congressional legislation signed into law by then-President Reagan. It's tasked with "helping to prevent violent conflicts and broker peace deals abroad," per a post USIP's website. What they're saying: White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told AP USIP hadn't complied with Trump's order so "11 board members were lawfully removed, and remaining board members appointed Kenneth Jackson acting president." She added: "Rogue bureaucrats will not be allowed to hold agencies hostage. The Trump administration will enforce the President's executive authority and ensure his agencies remain accountable to the American people." Moose told reporters Monday "what has happened here today is an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit corporation."
