A U.S. federal judge criticized some of the grounds Elon MuskThe Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said the process was illegal, poorly designed and “deeply troubling.”U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon ruled Thursday that a sweeping defunding of National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants cannot be upheld, blocking the Trump administration from enforcing them and criticizing how the grants were implemented.“There is no question that the review process implemented by DOGE is inconsistent with, or even similar to, NEH’s ordinary appropriations review process,” Judge McMahon wrote.The court found that DOGE staff lacked appropriate authority to make the decision and said the dismissal was conducted in a manner that ignored established procedures. In their ruling, the judge concluded that protected characteristics had been improperly used during the review process.“Judge McMahon declared the funding termination unlawful, concluding that DOGE staff had no authority to make these decisions and preventing the Trump Administration from enforcing the funding termination.”She added that the methods used by DOGE were discriminatory in practice.“It is unlawful to treat Black civil rights history, Jewish testimony about the Holocaust, the often-forgotten Asian American experience, the shameful treatment of Native tribal children, or simply refer to women as signs of lack of merit or waste,” she said.The judge also focused on specific cuts to programs related to Holocaust research, calling the reasons behind them troubling.“At a time when the specter of anti-Semitism has resurfaced from the shadows, it is deeply troubling that our government deems a project about Jewish women unwelcome because it centers Jewish culture and female voices,” she said.The ruling came after several nonprofits challenged the defunding in court, arguing that the cuts undermined humanities research and ignored Congressional intent. They welcomed the decision, saying it was an important defense of cultural and academic work.The case focuses on actions taken after Donald Trump returned to the White House and empowered Musk to help push federal cost-cutting efforts through the newly formed DOGE and Ohio Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Agencies were instructed early on to suspend diversity-related programs and staff.Court documents and testimony released earlier this year show how two DOGE employees, Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh, used keyword filters to help determine grant cancellations. These include terms such as “DEI,” “equity,” “inclusion” and “LGBTQ.”Kavanaugh acknowledged in his testimony that the approach was blunt, even as he defended the broader goal of cutting spending.“Don’t you regret that people may lose important income… to support their lives?” one lawyer asked Kavanaugh.“No. I think what’s more important is reducing the federal deficit from $2 trillion to close to zero,” Kavanaugh said.“Did you reduce the federal deficit?” the lawyer asked.“No, we don’t,” Kavanaugh said.Neither Fox nor Kavanaugh had worked in government before joining DOGE.
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