A federal judge in New York ruled on Thursday that the Trump administration's cancellation of more than $100 million in humanities grants was unconstitutional. The judge stated that the terminations involved blatant discrimination and that the Department of Government Efficiency, known as Doge, had no authority to end the funding.
In April of last year, the administration terminated more than 1,400 grants representing over $100 million in funds congressionally appropriated for the National Endowment for the Humanities. These funds had been awarded to scholars, writers, research institutions, and other humanities organizations.
The terminations were part of a cost-cutting drive led by billionaire Elon Musk at Doge. The ruling follows a challenge by three of the nation's major scholarly groups in a case that revealed the inner workings of the department.