The US Institute of Peace expert was scheduled to speak about how to avoid a collision between the U.S. and China.
By Alex Lieberman
Original Air Date: April 2, 2025
Host: Ripples from the actions of the Department of Government Efficiency, otherwise known as DOGE, were felt locally again last week when a speaker who was supposed to lecture at Sarasota World Affairs Council (SWAC) was laid off and had to cancel. WSLR News intern Alex Lieberman has more.
Dr. Jennifer Staats
Alex Lieberman: Dr. Jennifer Staats was going to speak about U.S.-China relations—specifically about how to avoid a collision course between the two powers. Until two weeks ago, when it was taken over by DOGE, she was the director of East and Southeast Asia Programs at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). The Elon Musk-run group has since appointed a startup entrepreneur and college dropout as its new head.
The USIP is an independent nonprofit funded by Congress that was established in 1984 with support from President Ronald Reagan to promote peaceful conflict resolution.
The Sarasota World Affairs Council (SWAC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that is a chapter of World Affairs Councils of America. Its mission is to provide community education on international issues.
SWAC logo
According to Lynne Partington, SWAC’s program director, she received word from Staats via LinkedIn on the Friday four days before the talk, which had been scheduled for Tuesday, March 25. Partington, who requested not to be recorded, said that she had seen news about layoffs at the USIP and tried to reach out to Staats. However, through a LinkedIn message a few days after Partington initially became aware of the situation, Staats told her that her phone and laptop had been confiscated and that she was forbidden from traveling. Partington is unsure whether that was her personal phone and laptop, but she knows that the only way Staats was able to reach her was through LinkedIn. Emails notifying the estimated 300 employees of layoffs were sent to personal addresses because many had lost access to US IP’s system, the Associated Press reported.
Staats did not respond to an interview request.
US Institute of Peace headquarters. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
USIP seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts. The organization was one of three agencies targeted for closure by President Donald Trump in an executive order in February. The USIP president and all its board members, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, were fired. During the week before Staats’ planned lecture in Sarasota, there was a standoff between employees who blocked DOGE members from entering the USIP headquarters near the State Department. DOGE staffers eventually were able to access the building in part with the help of Washington police.
Fired USIP President George Moose explained his reason for resisting DOGE staffers, expressing concern about executive overreach. Here’s a clip from CBS News:
George Moose: This building is a private building owned by the U.S. Institute of Peace. The U.S. Institute of Peace is not an executive branch agency department or entity. We have our own separate board; we have our own bypass authority to go directly to Congress in order to get our money. Somehow, all of those arguments have not prevailed.
AL: A U.S. district judge later scolded DOGE staffers for their behavior, but he did not reinstate board members or allow employees to return to their workplace.
A USIP senior advisor interviewed by AP called the institute the U.S. government’s “other tool in the tool box,” saying the institute’s role was to prevent U.S. soldiers from having to go to war. A White House spokeswoman told AP in an email that USIP “has failed to deliver peace.”
Meanwhile, back in Sarasota for the March 25 event, Partington scrambled to find a local speaker as a replacement because she was not aware of Staats’ status until it was too late to have someone else fly in. She said she hopes that SWAC can continue to provide information regarding international affairs and host speakers who are experts in their field without interruption.
Reporting for WSLR News, Alex Lieberman.
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