55 pointsby 16594470916 hours ago3 comments
  • 16594470916 hours ago
    > McMahon also rejected the government’s argument that there was no constitutional problem because any viewpoint classification was ChatGPT’s doing, and not the government’s.

    > “ChatGPT was the Government’s chosen instrument for purposes of this project, and DOGE’s use of AI to identify DEI-related material neither excuses presumptively unconstitutional conduct nor gives the Government carte blanche to engage in it,” she wrote.

    • nemomarx5 hours ago
      This is a really bold argument. Could they have gotten away with "we hired contractors to do all the viewpoint tagging and just defunded whatever they said"? I feel like that should still count as the government doing it, given they instructed someone else to make a decision on x and y grounds. But why would a lawyer even think it's a defense?
  • Jun85 hours ago
    From the ruling (https://www.historians.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/291-Me...):

    >The second stage of the grant termination process began on March 12, 2025, when Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh – identified in the record as members of DOGE’s “Small Agencies Team” – met with NEH leadership, including McDonald and Wolfson… Prior to joining the Trump Administration, neither Fox nor Cavanaugh had any experience in government, public grant administration, private grant administration, or reviewing humanities projects for scholarly merit… In fact, as both were in their twenties, they did not have much experience in anything at all – certainly not in anything remotely related to the humanities.

  • java-man6 hours ago
    What will be the consequences?
    • sega_sai5 hours ago
      I am sure -- the government will appeal and the supreme court will decide it is all fine, because that's how founding fathers intended.
    • laughing_man5 hours ago
      The funding will be restored, assuming the decision survives an appeal.
    • boothby6 hours ago
      Administration decides the constitution doesn't spark joy, yeet
    • picsao5 hours ago
      [dead]