What Happened
AP reported that U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan ruled the Trump administration's cancellation of more than $100 million in National Endowment for the Humanities grants was unconstitutional.
The case was brought by The Authors Guild, several other organizations, and people whose grants were canceled. McMahon permanently barred the administration from terminating the grants and said the Department of Government Efficiency had no lawful authority to end the funding.
The government argued the cuts were legal efforts to implement President Donald Trump's directives, reduce discretionary spending, and eliminate grants linked to diversity, equity, and inclusion. McMahon called grant cancellations based on DEI "a textbook example of unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination," according to AP.
Why This Matters
Congress approves money. Agencies administer programs. Courts occasionally have to remind everyone that a cost-cutting brand name and a spreadsheet do not automatically become a parallel constitution.
The humanities are an easy punching bag because they do not arrive wearing hard hats and promising ribbon cuttings. But grant recipients still have legal rights, agencies still have rules, and the government cannot just point at the nearest unpopular acronym and start deleting approved funding like a bored intern clearing an inbox.
The Dumb Part With The AI Budget Machete
The especially dumb part is the court's criticism of DOGE's use of artificial intelligence in the grant cancellations. Nothing says careful constitutional governance like letting the algorithm help decide which scholars get shoved into the trapdoor.
Artificial intelligence can summarize paperwork. It cannot magically give an unauthorized office legal power. That is not efficiency. That is bureaucracy putting a fake mustache on lawlessness and calling it innovation.
The Bottom Line
The grants are not supposed to stay canceled under this ruling. The administration can appeal, but for now the court told DOGE and NEH that the funding guillotine does not get to operate outside the law.
If your government reform plan requires a judge to explain that an office cannot delete congressionally approved grants with AI and vibes, the problem may not be the grant writers.
Sources
AP: Judge rules government illegally canceled more than $100 million in humanities grants
Authors Guild: Court finds NEH grant cancellations unconstitutional