A senior State Department official with a history of making divisive remarks and who was ousted as a speechwriter during President Donald Trump’s first term has been named to head the troubled U.S. Institute of Peace.
The administration’s latest attempt to demolish the troubled institution, which was established as an independent, non-profit think tank, is the appointment of Darren Beattie as its new interim president. Congress provides funding for it in order to advance world peace and prevent and resolve crises. The fight is being fought in court right now.
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Beattie was sacked during Trump’s first term after CNN revealed that he had spoken at a 2016 conference attended by white racists. He will remain in his current position as the State Department’s under secretary for public diplomacy. He maintained that there was nothing offensive about the speech he gave.
Beattie, a former professor at Duke University, has a lengthy history of making divisive posts on social media and started a right-wing website that circulated conspiracy theories on the attack on the US Capitol on January 6.
In October 2024, he wrote, “If you want things to work, competent white men must be in charge.” Regretfully, the foundation of our entire national philosophy is depressing capable white males and fostering the sentiments of minorities and women.
Beattie’s appointment by the USIP board of directors, which presently consists of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, was confirmed by a State Department official. “In this new role, we look forward to seeing him further President Trump’s America First agenda,” they stated.
Since Trump took action to demolish the USIP soon after taking office as part of his larger plan to reduce the size of the federal government and abolish independent agencies, the USIP has been embroiled in upheaval.
In February, Trump issued an executive order calling for the shutdown of the organization along with three other agencies. A dramatic standoff resulted from the Department of Government Efficiency’s initial attempt to seize its headquarters, which was formerly overseen by tech tycoon Elon Musk.
Days later, members of Musk’s crew returned with the FBI and the Metropolitan Police of Washington, D.C., to assist them in gaining admission.
In what they referred to as the Friday night massacre, the administration dismissed the majority of the institute’s board before mass-firing almost all 300 of its staff.
In an effort to stop DOGE from taking over the institute’s activities and to stop their dismissal, the institute and many of its board members filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in March. That weekend, DOGE handed over administrative control of the organization’s assets and headquarters to the General Services Administration.
Judge Beryl A. Howell of the District Court reversed those actions in May, ruling that Trump lacked the authority to fire the board and its acting president and that all further lawsuits were therefore moot.
In a rare win for the agencies and organizations affected by the Trump administration’s downsizing, her decision permitted the institute to reclaim control of its headquarters. Although many of the employees did not return to work due to the difficulty of restarting operations, the employees were rehired.
However, after an appeals court halted Howell’s order, they were given termination orders for the second time.
In June, the U.S. Institute of Peace requested a full court hearing to lift the stay of a three-judge panel, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit refused their motion. The group returned its headquarters to the Trump Administration as a result of that stay.
Former institute counsel George Foote said in a statement that Beattie’s appointment is unlawful under Judge Howell’s May 19 ruling and goes against the principles that underpin USIP’s work and America’s dedication to cooperating with foreign partners in a respectful manner.
We are determined to uphold that ruling in the face of the government’s appeal. According to him, we are sure that our lawsuit will be successful, and we are eager for USIP to resume its vital work in Washington, D.C., and in war zones all over the world.
