Overview
- Judge Colleen McMahon, in a 143-page ruling Thursday, permanently barred the government from enforcing the mass termination of National Endowment for the Humanities awards and ordered agencies to rescind all termination notices while noting no immediate payments are required.
- The court found the cancellations violated the First Amendment through viewpoint discrimination and the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection component, and declared the effort ultra vires because DOGE lacked statutory authority to end the grants.
- Court records show DOGE staff used ChatGPT and keyword “detection codes” like BIPOC and LGBTQ on brief spreadsheet descriptions, admitted they did not review applications, and relied on inexperienced personnel to flag projects for cuts.
- The terminated grants topped 1,400 awards and more than $100 million, with lawsuits from the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Historical Association, the Modern Language Association, and The Authors Guild highlighting cuts to projects on Jewish women during the Holocaust and Indigenous culture.
- The White House signaled it will challenge the ruling, which also warns agencies that using AI does not shield unconstitutional actions and reinforces that Congress, not the executive branch, controls how appropriated grant funds are treated.