The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, has uncovered a scandal at the United States Institute of Peace.
DOGE found loaded weapons, payments to the Taliban, and a cover-up attempt following the deletion of financial records.
A DOGE member revealed that the Institute, which receives $55 million annually from Congress, spent funds on private jets and signed a $130,000 contract with a former Taliban member for “generic services,” with no clarity regarding their purpose.
“Was it for opiates, weapons, or nothing at all?” the team asked, pointing to the lack of transparency surrounding these expenditures.
The team also discovered loaded weapons inside the building, ironically described as “the least peaceful agency we’ve ever worked with.”
Additionally, the Institute transferred unused funds to a private bank—outside congressional oversight—to finance events and luxuries, according to testimony shared in the video.
Just hours after DOGE’s arrival, the Institute’s head of contracts deleted over a terabyte of financial records spanning several years—an act described as “the definition of a cover-up”.
The erasure of these documents, which contained details of Congress-approved spending, is illegal. DOGE managed to recover the data with the help of Institute employees.
The recovered evidence was submitted to the FBI and the Department of Justice for investigation.
This scandal coincides with President Trump’s efforts to reduce the number of federal agencies, which have grown from 4 to over 400 since the nation’s founding.
The Institute of Peace was one of the first targets of these reforms, leading DOGE to uncover the irregularities.
The lack of congressional oversight and questionable spending have raised serious concerns about the management of small agencies.
As the DOGE team noted, “Most Americans have no idea what’s going on” within these institutions—leaving one pressing question: Who is accountable for this mess?
