Fed Judge Rules DOGE Illegally and "Blatantly" Used DEI Terms to Cut Humanities Grants

"The NEH cuts by DOGE staffers "blatantly used" race, gender, and other protections as part of their decision-making process, the ruling from U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon stated."

""There can be no serious dispute that the review process implemented by DOGE did not conform to, or even resemble, NEH's ordinary grant-review process," McMahon wrote in her decision that was published on Thursday."

"In April 2025, NEH officials, acting on orders from DOGE, canceled hundreds of grants that had already been appropriated by Congress to be disbursed to various programs and projects."

"Notably, DOGE staffers used ChatGPT and keyword searches with terms relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to determine which grant programs they would cut. Some of those terms included the words "history," "culture," "identity," and more."

DOGE cuts to National Endowment for the Humanities grants were ruled improper by a federal judge. The ruling said DOGE staffers used race, gender, and other protected statuses in their decision-making. The judge found DOGE’s review process did not conform to or resemble NEH’s ordinary grant-review process. NEH officials canceled hundreds of already appropriated grants after orders from DOGE. DOGE staffers used tools such as ChatGPT and keyword searches tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion to identify grant programs for cuts. The cuts also targeted specific groups of people without other apparent justification.

Read at Truthout