Judge Rules DOGE’s Use of ChatGPT Was Both Foolish and Unlawful

A recent ruling declared the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) cancellation of more than $100 million in grants unconstitutional. In a detailed 143-page decision, US District Judge Colleen McMahon criticized DOGE’s method of using ChatGPT to assess whether grants were connected to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

The ruling originated from a lawsuit filed in 2025 by various humanities organizations. Judge McMahon noted that it was evident DOGE disqualified grants based solely on the presence of certain protected characteristics, which affected funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The judge highlighted multiple instances where DOGE appeared to utilize ChatGPT to filter out grants based on factors such as race, national origin, religion, and sexual orientation.

The decision referenced testimony from Justin Fox, a DOGE employee who, alongside colleague Nate Cavanaugh, was responsible for eliminating 97 percent of NEH grants, partly by leveraging ChatGPT’s interpretation of DEI. Fox explained that he used ChatGPT to determine the relevance of grants to DEI by submitting brief descriptions from the NEH spreadsheet with a standardized prompt asking if the content related to DEI.

In addition to assessing DEI relevance, Fox also instructed the AI to search for what he termed “Detection Codes” linked to “protected characteristics.” He created a list of terms, including “BIPOC,” “Minorities,” “LGBTQ,” and others, to identify grants he labeled as “Craziest Grants” and “Other Bad Grants.” When questioned about whether he applied this list to every grant description he received, he confirmed that he did.

Judge McMahon pointed out that DOGE categorized numerous grants as “wasteful” because they pertained to groups such as Blacks, women, Jews, Asian Americans, and Indigenous people. She emphasized that the very topics DOGE dismissed as unworthy were central to the NEH’s mission, including projects focused on the Holocaust, civil rights, and Indigenous knowledge.

The judge also countered the government’s claim that any viewpoint-based classification was solely the result of ChatGPT’s processing, stating that there was no real distinction between the government and the AI. She asserted that DOGE’s reliance on AI to identify DEI-related content did not absolve them of engaging in potentially unconstitutional actions. Furthermore, she noted a lack of evidence that Fox or Cavanaugh conducted any substantial review of the rationale provided by ChatGPT.

Ultimately, Judge McMahon ruled that DOGE’s cancellation of over 1,400 NEH grants was unlawful and unconstitutional, citing violations of the First Amendment, equal protection under the Fifth Amendment, and DOGE’s lack of authority. She ordered the reversal of the cancellations.