DOGE Grant Cancellations Violated First Amendment, Federal Judge Rules

A federal judge ruled that DOGE’s cancellation of National Endowment for the Humanities grants was unconstitutional, including cuts that affected Jewish and Holocaust-related projects.

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon said the mass termination of NEH grants violated the First Amendment, the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment, and exceeded DOGE’s legal authority. The ruling covered more than 1,400 grants and more than $100 million in congressionally approved funding, according to AP and Reuters.

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The court also criticized DOGE’s use of ChatGPT in the review process. The judge said DOGE did not define “DEI” for the AI tool and then adopted AI-generated rationales without meaningful review.

The Forward/JTA reported that several Jewish-related projects were among the terminated grants, including projects tied to Holocaust history, Jewish women during the Holocaust, and Jewish writers from the former Soviet Union.

The ruling blocks the government from enforcing the mass termination notices.

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