Almost every employee at Wilson Center, a prominent nonpartisan foreign policy think tank in Washington, took leave Thursday and was blocked from his work email accounts as Elon Musk's task force quickly closed most of the center.
Approximately 130 employees received orders instructing them not to return to the office after the end of the day, according to an email reviewed by the New York Times.
Employees will be paid during their leave, but will be fired soon, consistent with what Musk's workers have been demolished in recent weeks.
Only five employees remain. The president, two federal employees and two researchers are fellowship researchers. These positions are mandatory in the Centre's Parliamentary Charter. The cut coincides with President Trump, who was signed in March.
Private donations to the centre will be returned to the donor, according to people familiar with the centre who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation. It was not clear what would be made with the Centre's donation.
On Thursday afternoon, dozens of employees were carrying boxes and bags filled with paper, plants and posters written from the offices of the Ronald Reaganville Center, which houses several government offices.
Tears lit up on the woman's face as she left. The workers got a cart full of documents.
It was not clear how the office will be used on Thursday, but the center's charter will need space to become part of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial.
On Monday, four members of the mask team entered the center's office and began taking over the system. The next day, the Center President, Mark Greene, resigned.
The Trump White House has fired members of the Center's board of directors in recent weeks, one person explained the event. Green, a former Republican House member and ambassador, was told this week that if he didn't resign, he would be fired. The White House declined to comment.
Musk's government overhaul workers have destroyed several other Washington institutions, including the U.S. Agency for International Development.
They have shut down centers that receive federal funds, but have been doing independent research for decades with the goal of providing non-ideological expert assessments to policymakers, lawmakers and non-government people.
The Wilson Center was established in 1968 as a Work Memorial Hall to honor Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President, and received approximately 30% of the funds from Congress. The rest comes from private donations.
The center is run by former Democrat and Republican officials appointed by the board. Before Green, who led USAID in the first Trump administration, Jane Herman, a former Democrat from California, ran the think tank in 2021.
For decades, the center has been a gathering place for scholars in all areas of foreign policy. There is the private library of George F. Kennan, a diplomat and policymaker who studied the Soviet Union. On Thursday, Michael Kimmage, director of the Wilson Center's Kenan Institute, posted a photo of the library online and compared it to an ancient Alexandria library that “had been a victim of political fluctuations and war.”
One question is what happens to these materials compiled by the Wilson Center and the extensive digital archives. Researchers around the world use archives for their projects, and scholars are particularly evaluating the records of the Centers of Cold War documents.
Those familiar with the center said it also houses historic records from Wilson's campaign and presidency.
Over 50 fellows at the centre were expected to be paid until the end of the program, but foreigners expect to cancel their visas. According to those familiar with the centre, the two peers are at the centre through a programme for academics.
Each class of fellows is usually made up of academic researchers and one or more journalists working on the project. Reporters for The New York Times are undergoing fellowships.
Trump administration officials have said Green's senior adviser, Natasha Yacom, is the new president of the Center.
