Federal marshals on Thursday escorted officials from the Department of Government Efficiency into the U.S. African Development Foundation, a day after its employees refused entry to the Trump administration’s budget-slashing unit and Pete Marocco, the State Department official in charge of foreign aid.
Once inside, security officials were directed to change the federal agency’s locks, according to a security official at the scene. Mr. Marocco was seen entering the building separately from DOGE officials, according to video posted online, and the security official said he was briefly in the building.
Thursday’s takeover of the small foundation, which has about 55 employees and an annual budget of about $45 million, came after a weekslong standoff between administration officials and the foundation’s leaders. The leaders refused to succumb to the efforts of Mr. Marocco and the Department of Government of Efficiency team, overseen by Elon Musk, to assume control of their functions, dismiss staff members and install Mr. Marocco as the acting leader.
Barely an hour after the officials arrived on Thursday with federal marshals, the foundation’s president, Ward Brehm, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to prevent Mr. Marocco from ousting him and usurping control.
“Without this court’s immediate intervention, defendants will continue their tactics and strong-arm their way into” the foundation, Mr. Brehm’s complaint said, predicting that “within days, the damage that they do will be irreparable.”